Broken Home
by amaratenou2002
Summary: Rinoa grows up in a town with few friends. Then she meets Squall and everything changes especially when she finds out he has a problem that could kill them both. R&R please. WARNING this story is REALLY OCC. I based their personalities on ppl I know.
1. Prologue

'How can he ever expect me to forgive him,' she thought as she stepped out of her car. He was in jail because of his own actions. She remembered him down on his knees, begging. He kept apologizing over and over again. She just couldn't bring herself to accept it. A guard opened the door and escorted her to the visiting area. She sat down in a seat. He sat across from her, the glass made it so he couldn't reach her. It was better that way. She didn't know what she'd do if he tried to hug her. She might get upset. That'd be out of character. She had always been the strong one- the defender. She was the only one that would stand up to fight him when he got drunk. He was always drinking. Now he was in jail. They picked up the phones so they could talk. He said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. You have to understand, I was drunk."

"You think that's an excuse?" she hissed. "I'm just supposed to let it fly because you were drunk? I'm sorry but I can't do that. I can't conjure up any sympathy for you."

"I'm not asking for that."

"I don't care! I can't say what you want me to say because that's not how I feel. Not that it matters. Our feelings didn't matter to you at all."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is! All you cared about was your drinks. I tried to keep you away from her but I couldn't do it. I hate you for what you did to her. She loved you and trusted you..." Thinking about it made tears come to her eyes. She held them back. He pressed his hand to the glass. If he could reach her, he'd hug her. He knew she wouldn't want him to.

"I'm sorry, I really am."

"Stop saying that," she tried not to yell. "You're apologies don't make it better. Didn't you see the bruises and the blood? Didn't you see how hurt she was when you hit her?"

He sighed, "You think I enjoy knowing I did that?"

"You must've when you did it 'cause you didn't stop 'til the cops came! If you think I was going to come here and forgive you in a snap, you were wrong. It was hard enough making myself come here. I don't need this shit from you right now."

"Whether you believe it or not, I AM sorry. She deserved better..."

"Look, I have to go now. I'll see you later, I guess." She slammed the plastic phone down and left. A guard escorted her outside. She made the long drive home, breaking down into tears.


	2. Chapter One

"Time to get up, sweetheart," Julia said. She was gently shaking her daughter, Rinoa. Rinoa's dark hair concealed her pale face. She pulled the blanket over her head. "Rinoa, come on. It's your first day of school, you don't want to be late do you?" She didn't answer. She was in third grade now and summer was officially over. She hated school because she didn't exactly have any friends. Nobody played with her during recess. Her mother, Julia, picked her up out of bed. She pulled Rinoa's pajamas off and replaced it with Rinoa's favorite blue dress. "Come on honey, Let's get you something to eat."

"Don't wanna eat," Rinoa mumbled. She figured if she didn't eat, she wouldn't have to go to school. She crossed her arms and turned her back to her mother. Julia sighed putting her hands on her hips. "You know I hate school," Rinoa said. "Why are you making me go?"

"Because it's a new year. Things can change, sweetheart." Rinoa didn't try to argue. Instead she sat down at the table and ate her breakfast. She never told her mom about her friend problems. She was ashamed of it. Julia gave Rinoa her lunchbox and walked her outside. Rinoa tried to stop her mom from pushing her on the bus. She was unsuccessful. Everyone on the bus just stared at her. As she found her seat, she could feel their eyes burning into her back. The older kids were in the back, so as you came toward the front, the kids sitting down got younger. Rinoa sunk in the plastic seat and stared out the window. The school wasn't that far away but her mom said she was too young to walk. It'd be a lot better than riding the bus. A few others were picked up before they reached the school.

Rinoa made sure she was the last one off. They had recess first. That didn't thrill her. One of the ladies outside helped her hang her backpack up on the fence after putting her lunchbox in it. Rinoa stood there, looking at her surroundings. The tar was slightly sloped down to the pit of rocks where the equipment was. There wasn't much to the equipment. Small staircases lead up to the mesh walkways that came to an end at various slides and ladders. Of course there was a swing set, different size monkey bars, and a field as big as the rock pit.

Everyone had someone to play with but Rinoa. She sighed and made her way to a tree in the field. She watched the others play as the depressing thoughts started sinking in. She hated being alone. For some reason, no one wanted to be around her. Maybe they noticed something about her that she couldn't see in herself. Maybe they all got together and decided they were going to stay away from her. Why would they do that though? WHEN would they have done that? She figured they all probably had a meeting when she was sleeping and discussed it. This thought made her want to cry. Why did everyone hate her so?

The high-pitched sound of a whistle screamed in the air, getting all the children's attention. Rinoa slowly walked toward the brick building. She couldn't quite reach her backpack from atop the fence. All the adults were too busy to help her. She jumped and struck at it until it finally fell down. Something gently touched her back. "Hurry up now, recess is over," an older lady grumbled. Rinoa's eyes narrowed but she said nothing. Someone directed her to her classroom where she was told to sit in a desk. She chose one in the back corner. When all the kids were seated, the teacher came to the front of the room. The teacher had light brown hair about shoulder length; she wore a long purple and plain dress.

"Welcome children," the teacher said. "I'd like to get to know all of you but first you're going to have to get your lockers. Take a piece of paper like this one and write your name on it so you can put it on your lockers." Rinoa waited until everyone had gotten theirs before she picked one for herself. She wrote her name on the rectangle paper and stuck it on the only locker left. The locker was unnecessarily big being as she only had a backpack and her lunchbox. Did they really need all that space for two things (three including a jacket for winter)? Back in the classroom the teacher introduced herself, "My name is Ms. Lawson. Now, I'd like to go around the room, have you tell the class your name and say something about yourself." Each kid gave an answer.

"My name is Selphie," a girl sitting next to Rinoa said. "And ummm, I'm new to this school."

"Well I hope you like it here, Selphie. Okay, how about you?"

Rinoa hesitated so long that everyone turned to look at her. Finally she stammered, "I- I- My name's Rinoa. My, uh, my favorite color is blue." Some kids laughed and she felt stupid. What else was she supposed to say? There was nothing that interesting about her. They didn't do much work but of what they did, it was all pretty basic. Rinoa was pretty bored with it. There was no challenge at all so she didn't pay attention. She couldn't if she wanted t anyway because she was distracted. That girl, Selphie, kept glancing at her and it made Rinoa paranoid. What did she want?

When it was time for lunch, Rinoa ducked in the bathroom. In one of the stalls she looked herself over to see if there was anything wrong with her. She found nothing. A lot of kids were in line to get the food made by the school. Luckily, she brought her own lunch but getting through everyone to get to a table wasn't easy. A fifth grader shoved her out of the way. Rinoa sucked back her tears as she sat at a table. She ended up sitting on the edge all alone. Everyone else sat with their friends, talking and eating their lunch. No one wanted to sit by her. Just as Rinoa thought this, Selphie sat down next to her. "Hi," Selphie said cheerfully. "Can I sit here?"

"I guess so," Rinoa said quietly. "You already sat down anyway."

"So what do you got for lunch?"

"I don't know. Uh, a peanut butter sandwich, blue kool-aid, and some chips."

"Is it a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"

"No, it's regular."

"Ew, I can't eat mine without jelly or honey."

Rinoa said, "Oh." Selphie kept blabbing on about various things as they ate.

After some silence, Selphie asked, "Do you have any friends?"

"No. Do you?"

"Nope! Hey, are you done now? We can go outside and play if you are." Selphie dumped her tray while Rinoa shoved her lunchbox in her locker. They raced each other to the swings. "Get on," Selphie said. "I'll push you." She climbed on the rubber seat and Selphie gave it a few pushes before taking the swing next to Rinoa. When they were done swinging, they ran to the monkey bars and went down the slides. For once, Rinoa was actually having fun. Someone actually wanted to play with her. So were they friends? Did she have a friend now? The thought made her smile like she hadn't in a long time.

After recess, they all went back to class. Ms. Lawson gave the class an activity that required the students to have partners. Selphie immediately jumped to Rinoa. They got to make stuff out of clay. Ms. Lawson said they'd start working again tomorrow. Selphie told Rinoa they should make people out of clay that they could play with later. "Maybe you can come over tomorrow after school," Selphie suggested. "Then we can make a village for our people. I have some stuff we can use."

"Okay," Rinoa said. "I'll ask my mom when I get home."

"Good. Hey, Rinoa, how do you make a hat out of clay? Trevor needs it."

"Who's Trevor?"

"My guy I made. Don't tell but I named him after someone I liked at my other school." She couldn't believe how casually Selphie had said this. Rinoa would've been embarrassed.

"Oh. Well, maybe the teacher can help you." When school was over, Rinoa ran to catch the bus. Too bad for her Selphie didn't ride the same one. She ducked into a front seat and stared out the window as the others filed on. She was anxious; not only to get off the bus but also to ask if she could go to Selphie's after school the next day. Her mom would probably say okay. As soon as the bus stopped, she was at its doors, waiting to be freed. Julia was in the kitchen fixing dinner early. Some of the maids were helping her. She heard the front door open and close.

"Rinoa dear, is that you?" she called.

Rinoa said, "Yes. Hey mom? Can I go to Selphie's house after school tomorrow?"

"Who's Selphie?"

"My friend from school." She felt weird saying the unfamiliar word.

"That's fine but make sure her mother calls me when you're ready to come home."

"Okay mom. Where's daddy?"

"He's in his office talking to some men. It's a business meeting. Do you want to help me?"

"Uh, sure." She stood on the stool by the sink next to her mother. During supper, her father was still in a meeting so they ate without him. Julia put Rinoa to bed at eight and kissed her goodnight. "Night mommy."

"Sleep good, sweetie," Julia whispered. It took a while for Rinoa to fall asleep. She was excited to go to Selphie's. She finally had a friend. Someone she could talk to and play with.

-----

Beside the fact that she was a little tired, school went by really slow. Rinoa was becoming impatient by the time lunch came around. Selphie had been just as excited. She kept going on and on about the things they were going to do. It made Rinoa wonder if Selphie had any friends at her old school or if she'd been alone too. Of course, she didn't ask. At precisely three o' clock, the final bell rang. The wait was over. Rinoa followed Selphie to her bus. They rushed into the front seat like it was going to leave without them. The younger kids were screaming and jumping around. Rinoa noticed a kindergartener in a seat belt. "That's Devon," Selphie whispered. "Someone told me there was something wrong with him so he has to be seat belted. I heard he's autistic."

Rinoa said, "What's that mean?" Selphie shrugged. Selphie jumped up as soon as the bus reached her house. She raced Rinoa down the driveway. Selphie's light yellow house was only one story but it was nice. It looked like something out of a magazine or TV show. A small flower garden grew around the front of the house. Selphie's mom was sitting on the couch when they came inside.

"Mom, I'm home. I brought a friend with me too." She grabbed Rinoa's hand. "Come on." They went around the couch to the front where Selphie's mom could see them. Her mom had brown hair and green eyes like Selphie but their facial features were slightly different. "This is Rinoa." Rinoa gave a little wave.

"Hello Rinoa," Selphie's mom said. Rinoa noticed how tired she looked, like she'd been up all night. "Help yourselves to the snacks in the cupboard, you know where they are Selphie." As they walked to the kitchen, Rinoa noticed there was no one else in the house.

"Where is everyone?" Rinoa asked.

"Rick is off with his son in town," Selphie answered.

"Who's Rick?"

"He's my mom's boyfriend. I don't like him very much and he doesn't like me. Want some orange juice?"

"Okay." Selphie got the carton of orange juice out before climbing on the counter for a few cups. They sat at the table eating crackers, drinking juice and talking. When they finished, they went outside.

Selphie said, "Oh wait. I have to go get something from my room. I'll be right back." She ran off and came back a few minutes later with a box. Inside it was a small dollhouse about two feet high. "Did you bring the clay people we made yesterday?" Rinoa nodded and dug them out of her backpack. "Okay, you have to show me who's who."

Rinoa put a clay man with a black slab of clay on his head for hair, a red shirt, and blue pants. "This is, uh, my daddy," she said. She set down next to other a girl figure with brown clay hair and a red dress. "That's my mommy, and this is me." Finally she revealed a figure shorter than the rest that resembled herself in a blue dress. "That's all. What about yours?"

"Okay I already showed you Trevor, right?" Rinoa nodded. "And I made me." She set one down that was a girl in a yellow dress.

"You only made two?"

"Yeah. We can all live in this house together." Rinoa and Selphie played together for hours until Julia came. Before Rinoa left, Selphie gave her a bracelet from twisted hemp. "I have one just like it," Selphie said, holding up her wrist so Rinoa could see the identical rope hanging from it. "We can use them as friendship bracelets." Rinoa smiled as she put it on.


	3. Chapter Two

Selphie was always changing who she liked. It was different about every two or three weeks. Rinoa was amazed at how fast she changed her mind. She was impressed by a lot of things Selphie did. In fourth grade, Selphie spent the night at Rinoa's house every day. Once, after Selphie left, Julia said, "Rinoa, I know Selphie is your best friend but.... Is there another reason she's here all the time? Is she having any problems?"

"What do you mean?" Rinoa asked with a confused look.

"Nothing, honey. Never mind." Julia never said anything else about it. Selphie decided to have Rinoa stay over a few weeks later. Julia told Rinoa in the morning before school, "If anything happens, call me." Rinoa didn't understand but agreed anyway.

"Rick wont be here until we're asleep," Selphie said. "So we've got nothing to worry about." Rinoa wondered what they would've had to worry about but she didn't ask. Selphie's mother avoided them. She didn't want them to see her so she hid out in her room most of the day and made dinner while they played outside. Unbeknownst to Rinoa, Selphie's real father had run off years ago with a younger woman. Carol Tilmitt never hid the truth from her daughter. Together they had survived through it and made it on their own. Then Rick came into Carol's life. She met him a few years ago at work- when she WAS working. She was a waitress they were busy that day and she'd accidentally mixed up an order. The customer caused a big scene by yelling at her. Rick put the customer in his place and defended Carol. Ever since then they made small talk. He'd even flirt with her on occasion. He moved in with her last year, bringing along his thirteen-year-old son, David.

David and Selphie never got along. David would constantly pick on her yet in the end, the blame was always put on eight year old Selphie. David was violent too. He beat Selphie one day because she laughed a little when he almost tripped on a rock. Selphie had numerous bruises as a result and Rick punished her. Carol could do nothing about it. She learned immediately that you weren't allowed to go against Rick. If you did, there were consequences. Lately he seemed to be upset about everything. But Carol had become quite well at putting make-up on over the bruises. She usually took the blame for things Selphie did so her dear child wouldn't be hurt. Carol hid in her room in shame while the kids ate dinner.

"Is your mommy sick?" Rinoa asked.

Selphie said, "Yeah, I think so. At least she made us dinner. If Rick were here, he would've had us make our own dinner."

"How would we do that?" Selphie shrugged.

"We would've had to figure it out ourselves." That night was chaotic and Rinoa would never forget about it. They went to bed at eight thirty but stayed up talking. Selphie went silent when a car pulled up in the driveway. "He's home," she whispered. "Rinoa, pretend you're asleep!" They shut their eyes tightly and keep silent. Rinoa could feel her heartbeat quicken each second. The door opened a little, letting light from the hall flow on their faces. Rinoa held her breath and tried not to tremble. It stayed open for a few seconds more before it finally closed. Selphie sat up and let out a sigh, "We're lucky. I don't know what would've happened if he came in here."

Rinoa said, "W- would he hurt you?"

"Yes, maybe even you too. He's a bad man. He's mean to mom. That's why I stay at your house a lot. They've been fighting a lot lately and mom told me to get out when I could. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I like having you over anyway." Rinoa hugged her. She felt bad for Selphie. 'Having to grow up like that must be terrible,' she thought. 'Well I'll help her get out of this.' Eventually they got tired and fell asleep.

Rinoa's dream was disturbed when her body hit the floor. Selphie was huddled in the corner. Rick was standing over Rinoa. His eyes were bloodshot and he was glaring down at her. "Who the hell are you?" He spat. He grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. "What are you doing in my house?"

"That's Selphie's friend and she's spending the night," Carol said from the doorway. "Let her go, Rick."

"Don't tell me what to do, Carol!" He grabbed Selphie. "Who told you that you could have a friend over?" Selphie sniffed. She was on the verge of crying.

"I did. I told her she could have a friend over. Now leave her alone."

"Don't tell me what to do. Don't tell me what to do!" He dropped Selphie and went after Carol. Carol ran into the living room.

Selphie said, "Come on, Rinoa. We have to get to the neighbor's house. They'll call help. Let's go out the window." She pushed it up with Rinoa's help. Luckily for them there was no screen in it. Selphie got outside then tried to pull Rinoa out. David ran in the room and grabbed Rinoa's legs. She was pulled back in. Selphie raced to the front door of the neighbor's house. They knew how to respond to her banging on their door. While Selphie was doing that, Rinoa was trying to hide from David. He'd already hit her after pulling her back into the house. She was able to get away from him and now she was cowering in a closet. She could hear the sounds of Rick beating on Carol. Rinoa wished there was something she could do to help. The door whipped open and there stood David. He had an evil grin on his face. Rinoa put her hands up over her head.

When the police came, they busted through the front door, yelling, "Freeze!" David and Rick were put into handcuffs. Selphie had a cop call Julia who arrived after the two were arrested. Carol was placed on a stretcher. Julia told Carol she would watch over Selphie. She gently squeezed Carol's hand. Rinoa was taken to the hospital too. She ended up fine though. Selphie went home with them feeling terrified for her mother.

Rinoa hugged her and said, "It'll be okay, Selphie. My mommy will take care of you until your mommy gets better. Okay?" Selphie nodded. Neither of them could get to sleep again. "Your mommy should kick that guy out. He's mean."

"I know," Selphie mumbled. "She's been in the hospital before because of him. Just before we moved. I stayed with some of her friends for a while. He scares me."

"Me too. I hope they put him in jail forever." Selphie nodded. They tried to talk about happier things and make each other laugh. They were still awake when Julia came in to wake them up for school.

"Did you two get any sleep last night?" Julia asked. They giggled. "Well, tell you what, I will call the school and tell them you to won't be coming if you will eat breakfast and try to get some sleep. Is that a deal?"

They both said, "Yeah!" As they ate, she made the call.

Once Julia hung up the phone, she said, "Okay you two, Rinoa's father is upstairs in his office if you need something. I'm going to pay a visit to your mother, Selphie. If you'd like, I can take you to see her tomorrow." Selphie nodded. Julia put her jacket on and took a trip to the hospital. She was directed to Carol's room. Carol's wrist was broken; there were bruises and scars on her body.

"Hello," Julia said gently as she came in. "I'm Rinoa's mother, Julia. Remember?" Carol nodded. "I came to see how you were doing."

Carol said, "As long as the meds are working, I FEEL good. Is Selphie okay?"

"Yes she's fine. She'd like to come see you tomorrow. Do you think you'll be up to it?"

"Of course." They were quiet for a minute.

"What happened last night?"

"Rick was going to beat Selphie and I didn't want him to. He wasn't drunk- he doesn't drink. He does anything he can to find a reason to hit her but I don't know why exactly. Anyway, I didn't want him to hurt her so I got him to come after me. He could've killed her."

"He could've killed you."

"Yes but I'm physically stronger than her. Listen, Julia, I have no family. They're all gone. If anything ever happens to me, I want you to take Selphie."

"I will but you'd better put it in writing and give it to a lawyer. If you don't there's a possibility that he could get her or she might be placed in a foster home. I don't think you have anything to worry about though. He'll be doing some time in jail for what he did to you. Who was the other man they took away?"

Carol said, "Oh. That was Rick's son, David. He's always hitting Selphie. I try to stop him but I don't always catch him."

"You're not married to Rick, are you?" Julia asked.

"No, I'm not. He wanted me to marry him but I wasn't sure about it." Julia squeezed Carol's uninjured hand. The next day, Selphie got to visit her mother. Rinoa and Julia stayed out in the mall. Selphie stayed with them for a week before she got to go home. After that, Julia started calling Carol to talk and check up on her.


	4. Chapter Three

In fifth grade, Selphie and Rinoa met Quistis. Quistis was different than them and not just in appearance. Her blond hair was always clipped up while the other two left theirs down. She always wore the clothes considered "in" but the other two wore what they wanted to. She was also into make-up and they were not. Julia always said Rinoa didn't need to wear make-up because she was naturally beautiful. "But if you REALLY want to wear make-up, I can get you some," Julia told her. "But let me show you how to do it. Okay?" Quistis wasn't of popular status because she spoke her mind and stood firmly behind her opinions. If it were not for that, she wouldn't be hanging out with Selphie and Rinoa. At first, Rinoa was afraid of accepting Quistis for fear of breaking the strong bond with Selphie. But this just drew the two closer. Neither Selphie nor Rinoa felt they could completely trust Quistis.

Quistis's parents were well off like Rinoa's. In fact, her dad was a partner with Rinoa's father. For this reason, Quistis felt that her and Rinoa should be good friends. Rinoa didn't feel the same way, however. Once when Quistis asked Rinoa to spend the night, Rinoa begged Quistis to let her bring Selphie too. The two listened to Quistis talk about things their mother's hadn't gotten round to discussing with them yet. She even suggested they go out and buy a training bra. Needless to say, they didn't jump at the idea. "You could get one like this," Quistis said showing them one she had on- she wasn't shy about ANYTHING. Even Selphie turned a little red at the subject. Rinoa felt slightly ashamed because she hadn't started developing quite yet. Selphie later commented to Rinoa that she thought Quistis had stuffed the training bra.

"What you mean?" Rinoa asked with a confused look.

"I mean she probably put some tissues in it or something," Selphie said.

"Oh."

"If you ask me, she's a spoiled brat."

"Well, maybe but we can't just abandon her."

"I never said we had to. The thought hadn't crossed my mind. I don't think she's a bad friend. She's just spoiled. YOUR parents have a lot of money and YOU don't get every little thing you want, now do you? ... Well?"

Rinoa sighed, "No I don't. But we should still be nice to her and let her play with us."

"Whatever you say," Selphie answered. "I don't trust her as much as I trust you though." Rinoa couldn't argue with that. That was how she felt too. After school one day, Rinoa asked her mom if she knew Quistis's parents.

"The Trepe's? Yes, I know them," Julia told her.

Rinoa said, "What are they like?"

"I don't know much about her father but Quistis is just like her mother. They even look alike. Mrs. Trepe likes to spend money... and brag about it. But that doesn't make her a bad person."

"I know. Sometimes I feel a little weird around Quistis. She's so different from Selphie."

"Yes she is. You're going to meet a variety of people throughout your life. Some will be nice, some will be mean, some will be shy and some outgoing. You can't expect everyone to be the same."

"I know."

Near the end of their uneventful fifth year in school, the three girls had a fight. It was Quistis versus Selphie and Rinoa at the side. Secretly though, Rinoa was cheering for Selphie. It started when Selphie entrusted her two best friends with a secret, which happened to be that she liked a boy in her class named Steven. The next day, Quistis was undoubtedly flirting with him. Rinoa was just as mad as Selphie. Before Selphie had told them this, Quistis was completely disgusted with Steven. Now she was just trying to make Selphie jealous. The fight started small. Selphie asked Quistis why she'd do that to a friend. Quistis replied, "I don't know what you're talking about." Then Selphie gave her the silent treatment but Quistis kept on talking like there was nothing wrong. One day Selphie snapped.

"You're just trying to make me mad," Selphie practically yelled. "Now I've had enough." Once the words left her mouth, Selphie slapped Quistis as hard as she could. Quistis didn't cry or anything. Rinoa tried to get Selphie calm. Selphie and Quistis didn't speak to each other again until the very last day of school, when Quistis apologized. In fact, her apology went even further than a mere "sorry". She invited both of them to go with her to spend a week at a hotel where she used to live. Her dad had to make a business trip. He said it was okay for her and a few friends to come. Their parents gave them permission so they packed to go.

The car ride was only a few hours but it seemed like a long time. Rinoa stared out the window as Quistis talked on and on about her old friends. Rinoa wasn't really listening though. When they got there, the three got to share a room. The hotel had two floors and they were on the first. It wasn't really anything special, which surprised Rinoa. Apparently Quistis's father didn't spend loads of cash when traveling. The white walled room had gray carpet, a small bathroom, a little table in the corner, and beds with multicolored quilts on them. They piled their bags in a corner. Quistis suggested they go to the pool down the hall. Rinoa thought the poolroom was fairly nice. It had everything a typical hotel would have there: the bathrooms, the hot tub, the sauna, some chairs, and obviously the pool itself. At first, Rinoa was afraid to go in. She knew how to swim of course; she'd been to summer classes. But for some reason, a bad feeling had stirred in the pit of her stomach. She was happy just sitting on the small staircase where the water's surface was around her ankles. Selphie and Quistis jumped in to where they could touch. Their splashes made droplets of water hit Rinoa's skin. The glass doors opened and shut as some adults came in.

"Hey Selphie," Quistis said. "Are you a good swimmer?"

She thought about this for a few seconds then answered, "Yeah, kind of."

"I bet you five dollars you can't swim to the deep end and back."

Rinoa said, "Um, I don't think that's the best idea in the world."

Quistis sighed, "Aw, you're just being a baby."

"I'm not a baby," Selphie protested. "Fine, I'll do it. Watch me." She started forward before Rinoa could say any more. Selphie was going straight down the middle of the pool and was quickly in the four feet deep part. By time she reached the six, her arms were heavy. As she tried to rest the water slowly sucked her in. It was to her chin before she tried to move again. Panic took over her mind as her head disappeared in the water. Rinoa's yelling sounded so distant. Selphie's little lungs needed air but she didn't want to breathe the water in. She wasn't ready to die.

Cold air pricked Selphie's skin as she was pulled out of the water and se onto the tiled floor. One of the strange men who had come in earlier had saved her. Rinoa and Quistis were immediately at her side, hugging each other and crying along with the friend they almost lost. Quistis choked out apologies between sobs. They never mentioned the incident to Quistis's father.

The next morning they all went to the town Quistis used to live in. Her father dropped them off and went to his meeting. Rinoa was a little nervous going around where anything could happen to them without a parent keeping an eye on them. Quistis was trying to look older than she was by wearing her belly shirt and mini skirt. Rinoa thought Quistis was crazy. The first thing they did was stop at a small shop to buy some drinks and snacks. Quistis paid. After that, they headed for Quistis's previous school. There they sat on the swings and consumed their candy. "Maybe we can find some cute guys around here," Quistis said.

Rinoa said, "Aren't we too young for boyfriends?"

Quistis laughed, "Are you kidding? I've had three already." From the corner of her eye, Rinoa saw Selphie shake her head. When they finished eating, Quistis said, "Let's go."

"Where?"

"We're gonna find some boys."

Quistis walked ahead as Selphie whispered to Rinoa, "I don't want to do this."

"Me either," Rinoa whispered back but neither of them spoke up. Luckily for them, they were left alone except for the adult who rang up whatever they purchased. For Quistis, the week was uneventful and boring.


	5. Chapter Four

It wasn't until seventh grade that Zell Dincht joined the picture, followed by Squall Leonhart in eighth grade. The moment she saw him Rinoa knew she liked him. Unfortunately for her, she confided this secret in her two best friends and a few days later, one of them was after him. Selphie kept saying to Rinoa, "I can knock her out for you if you want. It'd be my pleasure." Rinoa, of course, turned down the offer. Squall found Quistis's advances kind of annoying. It was bad enough he had to adjust to a new school. He had to come here because he was moved to a new foster home.

Now, Squall's real father was an alcoholic and his mother had fallen into a state of depression as well as denial. After dinner, seven-year-old Squall was usually sent to his room where he'd try to blast music over the horrible sounds coming from downstairs. The teachers thought Squall's father didn't care about how his son was doing in school because he never came to conferences. They didn't know the half of it.

Squall's mother, Raine had met her husband Laguna in high school. There was something about him that attracted her to him. Maybe it was those damn blue eyes. Looking at them made her dizzy- a good dizzy. But, she wasn't really the outgoing type. She couldn't just go up to him and say, "I like you. Want to go out with me?" Plus, she was afraid of the reaction he'd give her. Not that he'd ever been mean to her or anything but ... she was vulnerable to bad luck. There were tons of girls prettier than her so what chance would she have? She never expected him to approach her and later marry her. It wasn't until after Squall was born that Laguna had started drinking. She hardly recognized him anymore. Somehow, she always found a way to keep Squall busy and out of Laguna's sight. Now her only child was out of her reach, and no longer a kid. The last time she saw him he was only twelve.

It hurt her to be labeled as an unfit mother. But ... the more she thought about it, she knew it was true. How could she expect to make her family happy when she wasn't happy herself? She couldn't. Life began to be a heavy burden when Laguna started drinking. He never discussed it so Raine figured it was her fault. She just wasn't good enough for him. She did what she thought would make him happy but he just kept on drinking. It upset her so much that the smallest thing caused her to burst into tears. She tried using a knife on her arm but she didn't even have the courage to let it graze her skin. The one thing she WAS able to do was to never let her son see her cry. She didn't want him to know she was sad or have him blame himself for her crying. That would be the worst thing, the most painful thing in the world.

Raine cried when the social worker came to take Squall away but she couldn't do much to fight it. She made him promises she wasn't allowed to keep. Laguna didn't have much of a reaction. He was confident the social worker would see her mistake and bring their son back to them. Of course, it didn't happen that way. They had to fix their problems first. Laguna was required to attend AA meetings and kick the drinking habit while Raine was supposed to get into therapy for her depression.

Squall doesn't like to talk about the mess with the foster homes very much. He'll only admit it to himself but he was scared when the social worker took him away. It was the first time he'd seen his mother cry and he wanted to cry too. The social worker said, "Don't worry Squall. You'll get to see your parents again soon." He wondered how this strange lady knew his name. Of course, he didn't ask. It seemed like she was taking him far, far away but she wasn't. She only took him to the other side of town. She grabbed his suitcase as he climbed out of the car. "This is only temporary," she said, taking his hand. "Just until your parents get better." She rang the doorbell. A pretty blond woman opened the door.

"Hello, Mrs. Davis," the woman said, smiling. "Is this the new boy you told me about? What's your name?"

"His name is Squall. I think he may be a little nervous."

"Well that's expected. Come on Squall. You can meet the other children."

'Other children?' he thought. 'How many are there?' His question was answered when he stepped in the living room. There were two other children around his age- a boy and a girl- plus a baby. The boy had blond hair, blue eyes, and a smirk on his face. The girl was a redhead with brown eyes. She was busy playing with the baby. Mrs. Davis grabbed Squall's hand and led him upstairs to his new room.

"You'll be sharing with the other boy here. His name is Seifer," she told him as she set his suitcase on the small bed. "I'll be back every once in a while to check up on you and tell you how your parents are doing."

Squall asked, "When will I get to see them again?"

"I need to meet with them first but when they start showing some progress I'll set up a time they can see you." She patted his hand and left. The pretty blond woman came in.

"You can call me Paige," she said. "Do you think you can stay in this room? Do you like it?" He nodded and she smiled. "Good. I'll show you who the other children are, okay?" She led him back downstairs where the other children were. They were watching TV. She flipped it off and said, "Okay kids, we have someone new staying with us. His name is Squall. Squall, this is Seifer. You'll be sharing a room with him." Seifer sneered. "Stop that. This is Janie, and the baby is her sister Kelsey. You can watch TV 'til lunch if you like."

When she left the room, Seifer spoke up, "So why are you here?"

Squall shrugged and said, "There's something wrong with my mom and dad, I guess. I'm not sure. Why are you here?"

"Why should I tell you?" Squall didn't know what to say. "Now I have another little kid to take care of," Seifer said, rolling his eyes. "I hate being with kids." Seifer was only a year older than Squall but apparently, Seifer thought it a big difference. Seifer was bossy; he liked to run things when the adults weren't around. Squall could tell Janie always did what Seifer told her to do. Squall did the opposite, which resulted in a lot of physical fighting. Bedtime was a different story. It didn't matter what may have happened between them during the day, they were always able to call a truce long enough to sleep peacefully.

Squall was usually alone in school except when Janie was following him. He told everyone he liked being alone but he really figured that it would be best not to get too close to anyone. He thought he'd be going home within a few weeks. Needless to say that didn't happen. One day, during recess, Squall got frustrated with Janie following him around. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" he asked with an annoyed tone in his voice.

She looked a little hurt as she said, "Because I like you... a lot." He pretended not to understand what she was talking about. It worked until she hugged him. He just stood there, completely still and not knowing what to do. When she stopped hugging him, she smiled.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I like you." He didn't know what to say. Luckily for him, the bell rang and they had to go back inside. For a few days after that he avoided any contact with her. He wouldn't even look at her. He didn't know what he was supposed to say. She was his foster sister. Wasn't that a sin?

Paige brought them to church every Sunday. Squall hated it. It was boring as hell. All the kids had to go to Sunday school. Seifer was very defiant toward the teacher. He never did was he was supposed to. Squall did but with a "this-is-really-stupid" attitude. Seifer took things even further by swearing at the teacher. The teacher had a talk with Paige about that. Paige ended up grounding Seifer for a week, not that he did much anyway. One time they had to make bread loaves out of clay at Sunday school. Janie spent a lot of time on hers, Squall wasn't putting much effort into it, and Seifer didn't do it at all. When Janie finished, she said, "Here Squall. I made this for you." He mumbled a thank you and pushed it aside. This was getting too weird for him. Didn't she know any better? He let out a little sigh as he pretended to concentrate on the clay in front of him. However, from the corner of his eye he saw that she was staring at him. What did she want? He decided to ask Seifer for advice.

"Janie likes me," he said to Seifer.

Seifer scoffed, "She sure likes the losers."

"What should I do?"

"Ignore her. Tell her she's ugly and that you hate her. I'm going to sleep now." Squall stayed up for a while, thinking. He didn't really want to be mean to her. He decided he'd tell her that he was just her friend and if she kept pestering him, he'd have to get mean. But he never got the chance to tell her because she started following someone else around. He felt a little jealous at first but was over it fast.

The first time he'd gotten to see his parents again was when he was ten. He visited them separately. The social worker had advised it. His mother visited him first. He thought she looked different somehow but maybe that was just because he hadn't seen her in a while. He wasn't sure. She hugged him as soon as he arrived. "Squall," she said tearfully. "I missed you so much. How have you been doing? Is everything okay at that house?"

He nodded as he said, "Yes mom. Are you okay?"

"I'm getting there. It makes me so happy to see you again. I don't even know what to say. Is there a certain place you'd like to go and talk?" They ended up going to the park. Raine asked her son many questions. She knew she'd missed out on a lot of his life. That really upset her. However, she was glad to have the chance to see him again. She kept thinking to herself, 'Once I get better, he can finally come back home. I can have my son back.' They spent the whole day together. Both of them smiled more than they had in years. Squall tried to imagine what it'd be like to go home again. He thought it'd be nice to have a real mother all to himself. She could help him with homework, make him lunches for school, hug him every night before bed and always tell him she loved him. Things could be normal then.

Much to Squall's dismay, the visit with Laguna wasn't quite as pleasant. It made Squall NOT want to go home. It started with Laguna saying, "When your mother gets her act together..." Squall knew damn well it wasn't all his mother's fault. It was mostly because of Laguna's drinking habits. Squall felt disgusted. He hadn't forgotten anything about his real family. He remembered the bad situation they were thrown in because of the drinking. Squall bit his tongue during the whole visit and didn't say anything. Laguna didn't seem to notice his son's lack of participation. He just kept saying 'if she hadn't' this and 'if she hadn't' that. The thing that REALLY set Squall off was when his father ordered a whiskey. Squall spent the rest of the day taking his anger out on everyone else. He constantly snapped at people. Paige had him sit in his room for a while until he calmed down. When she finally found out the reason for his acting-out, she tried to comfort him. It helped a little. Whatever anger wasn't released became bottled up inside him. He found that was a hard thing to swallow.

But there were even harder things for him to endure. When he was twelve, during a visit with his mother, Laguna showed up. Raine was just as surprised to see him as Squall was. Laguna's eyes were bloodshot, he looked as though he hadn't slept in days, and his words slurred together as he told them to get in the car. Raine refused at first then she was thrown into the passenger seat while he yelled threats at her. Once she was in, he picked Squall up and put him in the trunk. Squall was scared to death to be shut up in that small, dark space. He could hear his mother's muffled voice asking where he was. Nothing came out of his mouth when he tried to speak. It seemed as though he couldn't catch his breath. Would he die in the trunk from lack of air? Where his father taking them?

The drive felt as though it went on forever before the car finally stopped. His eyes had become adjusted to the dark so when the trunk opened up, letting the light flood in, Squall had to squint. Mrs. Davis pulled him out. She hurried him into her before he could see his parents being handcuffed. Raine called out to her son but Mrs. Davis kept him moving. He was home schooled for a year so an incident like that wouldn't happen again. Once he was allowed to go back to public school, however, Laguna showed up at their recess time. Mrs. Davis and Paige agreed that it was unsafe for Squall. He needed to be moved. They did not inform his parents that he was moved or even where. The Dinchts were more than happy to take Squall in. Zell had also been from foster home to foster home until he came to the Dincht house. He stayed with them for a few years before they adopted him. Squall didn't want to be adopted by the Dinchts. He wanted his own parents back. When he thought about his mother, he'd cry, though he'd never admit it to anyone. He made a rule for himself to never let a soul see him cry. That was his weak state and he didn't want anyone to see that. So, whenever he felt upset in front of others, he swallowed it and it went down hard like a pill you have trouble taking. In the years to come he'd break the rule he'd made for himself many times, in front of one girl.


	6. Chapter Five

Everyone please read Ph03nyX's review for chapter five. She's got the idea. Thank you so much Ph03nyX!! Also, thank you to KitsuneSkye203 for the nice review :).

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The Dinchts had a small house so Squall and Zell shared a room. Squall slept on the floor until he got his own bed. Since coming to a new school, a few girls had their eyes on Squall. Of course, he took no notice of them. Sure they were attractive but he didn't feel compelled to go after them. He felt pathetic so he didn't even tell his friends that he was looking for "the one". It was usually the girl who fussed about that- or that's how it seemed to him anyway. He needed someone to take away the ill feeling of loneliness. He wanted someone who could understand him. Maybe he could find someone that understood him better than he did himself, if that was possible.

When Quistis started hitting on Squall, he was reminded of Janie. Those confused feelings washed over him again and he wasn't sure how to react, so he didn't. He kept a blank look on his face and said nothing. Most of the time they –whoever was flirting with him- didn't notice. This sent a signal to his brain that said, 'They don't get it'. Those messages were never good and he got one upon meeting Quistis. As soon as she introduced herself, just by the way she said her name; he knew she was after him. Thus started a minor disaster. The day she approached him she'd stuck by his side. He felt stupid because throughout different classes, she kept saying, "If you don't understand something, I can help you." Even if he said no she ended up helping him anyway. The only time he could escape her was at lunch.

"S'up, Squall," Zell said. "What's with that girl following you every where?"

Squall sighed, "I don't know. She wanted me to sit at her table with her too. I mean, she's nice and everything but damn. I need a break from her."

"Know what you mean, man." Squall scoffed and thought, 'Do you now?' Zell shoveled his food down while Squall just picked at it. He wasn't too fond of school lunch. It was okay sometimes but he hated it on days like this when they served tator-tot hot dish. Just looking at it made him want to throw up. So why did he take the damn tray? He always ended up in one of the lines, even if he hated what they were serving. He just did it without thinking.

He felt a light tap on his back. When he looked behind him he saw Quistis walk by with a slight smile on her face. "You going to go out with her?" Zell asked. Squall only shook his head. She wasn't what he was looking for. At least that's what his instincts told him. Zell didn't question it further anyways. Squall took his time grabbing his stuff from his locker. He noticed two girls over by Zell. Both girls were short but one was dressed in a jean outfit and her hair was black. The other was in a yellow dress and she had brown hair. He wondered what they'd be talking to Zell about. Not many girls talked to Zell, unless Squall was with him.

"Who was that?" Squall asked.

Zell answered simply, "Some friends of Quistis."

"What did they want?"

"They just asked me something. Why? You looking for Quistis?"

"No. I was just curious. Have I seen them before? They look familiar."

"Well," Zell said, "they're in our English class. Quistis is in there too."

"Yeah I know. She's in ALL my classes. It's like she's stalking me or something."

"Maybe she is."

"You're a great comfort," Squall said sarcastically. The bell rang and everyone headed for their fifth hour class. Soon Squall would be out of here, thank God. The day seemed to go slower when Quistis was around. Sixth hour they (Squall, Zell, and Quistis) were in Geography. The teacher gave them tons of notes that day. Quistis kept jabbing Squall in the back with her pen. She giggled every time he squirmed. He restrained himself from backhanding her. The point of her pen was really digging into his back and it hurt. The teacher had to leave the room for a second so Quistis took the opportunity to pass Squall a note. It said, 'Hey, Squall, what are you doing this weekend?'

He wrote, 'I'll be busy' and handed it back. He thought that would end the conversation right there. He was wrong. She slipped it back to him just before the teacher came in.

'Maybe when you're not busy we can do something like go to a movie,' she'd written. So in other words, he thought, she's asking me out on a date. This is too weird. He didn't give an answer. In fact, after class he immediately ducked her clutches and headed for his last hour, English. He thought he'd be the first one there but one of the girls that had been talking to Zell was already sitting in her desk. She looked up at him for a second then back down at whatever she was writing- a note maybe. He could've sworn he saw her cheeks turn a slight pick color when she looked at him. He sat down in his seat.

"You're Squall Leonhart, right?" she asked. Her voice came out quiet and gentle as if she almost wanted to remain unnoticed. He turned to face her and found she had her head down.

He said, "That's right. You are...?"

"Uh, Rinoa Heartilly. Quistis talks about you a lot." When she added the last part, Squall could hear a sense of hurt in her voice and wondered why. Before he got the chance to ask anything else, people started filing in the classroom. The teacher entered shortly after. Quistis shot Squall a flirtatious smile as she took her seat. She didn't see him roll his eyes.

Squall's place was in the back; Rinoa's was near the front. He found himself staring at the back of her head. He wished he could've gotten a better look at her face but she put her head down so fast. Maybe if he got a chance, he could talk to her after class. The only obstacle would be getting past Quistis. Once she had him, Rinoa might not want to talk to him. As a start, he avoided eye contact with Quistis. In fact, he didn't even look at her. A few minutes before the bell rang, the teacher gave them time to talk so Squall moved into an empty desk in front of Rinoa. "Hey," he said.

She smiled sweetly and said, "Hi." Now he could see her face. She was a little bit pale but nonetheless beautiful. Her eyes were dark but not unkind and her mouth was a gorgeous light rose color. Squall thought her mouth was her best of many attractive features.

"So you're a friend of Quistis, huh?"

"Yeah but sometimes it doesn't feel that way."

"How come?" She just shrugged. Obviously she wasn't up to discussing it- at least, not with him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to- Well you barely know me so-"

"It's okay, I just don't know how to explain it, I guess. You're friends with Zell, right?"

"He's my foster brother," Squall said.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that." He laughed as she hurriedly added, "I mean, I'm sorry to hear you're in a foster home."

"I know what you meant." As soon as the bell rang, everyone sprang up. Squall walked with Rinoa down the hallway where they split paths to their lockers. Squall and Zell met by the exit and headed out. Luckily for them they had made a few new friends at the end of the summer. A woman with silver hair pulled up in her dark blue jeep Cherokee. A man with brown skin and dark hair sat in the passenger seat. The woman is Fujin; the man is Rajin. Both are juniors that met Squall and Zell when they moved into town. Fujin drove them everywhere since they couldn't drive themselves yet. Squall shoved Zell into the backseat, growling, "Hurry up."

"YOU hurry up," Zell snapped back.

"How do you expect me to find that insulting when YOU'RE the one being slow?"

Fujin yelled, "Will you two just get in damn it!" Squall was glad to be associated with Fujin and Rajin but sometimes Fujin's temper could be scary. She usually didn't say much unless she was mad or something. Rajin did most of the talking if any. "When are you guys going to get a license?" Fujin asked.

Squall said, "When we're sixteen. You going to have to wait a few years so you can drive us 'til then."

"Yeah right. I'll be gone once I graduate. I'm getting out of that fucking house." Fujin has had conflicts with her parents since they got divorced five years ago, but it's not an issue she discusses with people. Her home life is a mystery to those who don't see it firsthand. The most anyone knows is that she has a strong bond with her former stepbrother, Rajin. What they don't know is that it took a while for that bond to form since Rajin is the product of an affair. Though the marriage between Rajin's mother and Fujin's father is terminated, their friendship is not. They both share the feeling that their father let them down.

Squall and Zell were dropped off not more than five minutes later. Really, they don't live that far away from school, but walking changes it into a whole different story. Zell raced to the living room to watch TV while Squall headed upstairs. He couldn't get the image of Rinoa out of his mind. She's so beautiful, it's like she's in a category all her own. He could catch this woman and call her his own. He's surprised that door isn't being knocked down by a horde of guys. If she is as compassionate as she is beautiful, Squall has then found what he has been secretly searching for.


	7. Chapter Six

The first thing on Squall's plan to hook Ms. Rinoa Heartilly is to get Quistis off his back. He had to be careful so he wont offend Quistis. She also had the power to push Rinoa from Squall's grasp. To start the process of getting Quistis out of the picture, Squall rejected her advances. She didn't seem to get it right away, which made him frustrated. During his second hour class, he was tapped on the back and handed a note. 'If you go out with Quistis, I'll kill you,' was written on the paper. 'She doesn't even like you anyway'. At the bottom of the note the initials "S.T." were written. He didn't know what "S.T." stood for or why this person was threatening him. It didn't really make a difference anyway.

Quistis caught up to Squall at his locker. "So, what're you doing tonight?" she asked as she leaned against a locker to his right. "Are you going to be busy?"

He said, "Uh, actually, no. I'm not doing anything but there's something we need to talk about."

"Save it for tonight."

"You don't understand. We need to talk NOW. It's important. I'm willing to be your friend but that's all. I'm really ... not all that interested in you. I'm sorry but I'm not."

She was unfazed. "That's okay. We can go as friends then. I've already got things arranged. We'll pick you up at seven."

"But-" She walked off before he could get out a protest. This was not how he had pictured it. Where was she planning on taking him anyway? She had failed to clarify that part. He decided to see if Zell had heard anything about it.

Zell said, "She invited you too, huh?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"It's like a double date."

"Who are YOU going with?" Squall asked.

"I don't know. She said she'd introduce me to the girl when they pick me up."

"Aren't we a little young to double date? I mean, we don't have our own money and we can't drive. Don't those things kind of make a difference?"

Zell said, "I see your point but what do you want me to do? Why don't you bring it up with her? She planned it."

"Okay. I guess I just want to know how she plans to do this." Zell nodded but didn't say anything.

Squall managed to talk to Quistis about it in class... sort of. Once she realized what he was asking about, she interrupted him, "Squall, don't worry about it. I have everything under control. Just don't forget we're picking you up at seven tonight."

"So Zell is going too? Who is he going with?"

"You'll just have to wait and see. Be a good boy and be patient." Squall raised an eyebrow and turned away. He kept spacing out during the teacher's lesson. For some reason, he just couldn't pay attention. Rinoa Heartilly's beautiful face had entered his mind. He wouldn't mind going on a date with her. What was he thinking? He barely knew her and he was already having unusual thoughts. They were weird to him anyway. Never before had he daydreamed about being with a girl. This was a new feeling to him that failed to panic him. Thinking about her made him feel calm and content. Being in her company was even better. When he saw her in the hall, he invited her to sit at his table for lunch. She smiled as she told him she would.

They stood at the end of the lunch line together, chatting away about whatever popped into their minds. She was able to get him to laugh, not many people could do that. She didn't know how surprised he was. "I don't know anyone who can do that," he said with a smile.

She said, "Well, now you do. So why do you want me to sit at your table? Trying to make Quistis jealous or something?"

He laughed a little, "No. Just wanted to talk, I guess. You don't have to, you know. I'm not trying to make you sit by me."

"You make it sound like it's a punishment."

"Might be to some people."

"Well, it's not to me. I don't mind sitting by you. It's not a big deal." They filled their trays with some, at least halfway decent, food before taking a seat. Zell looked up at Rinoa with a surprised expression.

"What's she doing here?" Zell asked in a tone of pure amazement.

Squall said, "I invited her. Is that okay with you?" Zell just shrugged and went back to eating. Squall told Rinoa stories about Zell doing stupid things. She laughed at each one as Zell made up some excuses for why each thing had happened. A smile spread across Squall's face when he saw her reaction to the hilarious tales. She had a flawless smile that was hard to ignore. He looked away when her eyes met his. The three of them stayed at the table talking and laughing until the bell rang. Zell raced Rinoa to her locker since their lockers were close together. Squall watched them take off. He was able to talk to her again the last hour of the school day. Quistis surprised him by not showing a hint of jealousy. The expectation he'd been holding was her starting an all-out war with Rinoa. He was glad that didn't happen.

Fujin picked up Zell and Squall just like always after school. Once he was home, Squall decided to walk around town a little instead of shutting himself up in his room. For some odd reason, he actually DIDN'T want to be closed off in the house. He told Mrs. Dincht of his plan before taking off. Shoving his hands in his pockets he trudged down the sidewalk. It was nice outside; the sun was bearing down on Squall's back. The trees were looking healthy but within a few months their leaves would be changing colors and lying on the ground. Anyone walking would hear the crunching sound of dried up leaves being mercilessly stepped on and children would make a pile of the crumpled pieces to jump into. Squall remembered doing that as a young child a few times. Those were the days he'd still been living with his real parents. Thinking about it made him wonder what they were doing now. Had his father quit drinking? Was his mother over the problem the social worker had said needed to be overcome? Being as the social worker hadn't contacted him in years, probably not. Squall wandered around, letting various thoughts ease into his head until the sun turned orange. It would be setting soon which meant he needed to head home.

He saw that it was about six-thirty when he got home. Quistis would be coming by soon to pick him and Zell up. Squall showered then hid out in his room until Quistis arrived. An older guy from school was driving them. "Hop in the back," Quistis yelled from the passenger seat. Zell and Squall crawled in the back. "We have one more person to pick up then we can get moving." The car pulled up to the biggest house in town. Rinoa Heartilly opened the door and sat next to Squall.

"Hey," she said, kind of breathless. Her spaghetti-strap, cream-colored dress stopped a few inches above her knees and hugged her skin. "So, where are we going?" Only when she said that did it hit Squall that Rinoa was to be Zell's date. How could Zell wind up with someone as wonderful as Rinoa and Squall wind up with Quistis? He wanted to switch dates with Zell. He could just focus on Rinoa instead of Quistis. The four of them were dropped off at some restraunt Squall had never heard of. Inside they were escorted to a booth table. Squall made sure to sit in-between Quistis and Rinoa. The waitress flashed a smile as she handed out menus and told them what the "special" was for today. After she had been told what they wanted for drinks, she left. Quistis began chatting away about something that Squall didn't catch until she was halfway through the sentence.

"... So we could all talk all talk more often," she finished.

"Fine with me," Zell said, Rinoa nodded in agreement and Squall asked Quistis to repeat what the first part.

"I said, 'It'd be cool if you and Zell sat at our table at lunch so we could talk more often'. Do you mind giving it a try for a while? We could do it next week."

Squall answered, "No, that's fine. We can do that."

"If you don't like it, you can move back."

"Depending on if our seats get filled up. If that happens we wont have much of a choice, really."

Rinoa said, "Hey, did you guys finish your math homework?"

"No," Zell groaned. "I totally forgot about it. I'll have to finish it when I get home, I guess."

"It's hard... Then again, I'm terrible at math. One things for sure, I'll never be a math teacher."

Squall smiled and asked, "What DO you want to do?"

"Mmm... I don't know. Maybe like a writer or something."

"You write, huh?"

Yeah. Actually, I just took it up a few years ago. I like to write short stories in my spare time. Of course, I do it during class sometimes. Then I get in trouble for not paying attention." Rinoa chuckled a little as she added that last part. "What about you, Squall?"

"Uh, I haven't given it much thought. We've got a lot of time before we graduate so I'm not worried about it."

"I want to design a video game," Zell threw in. "Or maybe make something everyone will like. I don't know what yet though..."

Quistis said, "The medical field interests me. That's as narrowed down as I got it right now."

"That's cool," Rinoa said. "You seem to have given it a lot of thought than I have." Quistis just shrugged. When their food came they ate in silence. Like the rest of them, Squall couldn't think of anything to say. Quistis insisted on paying the bill before anyone could begin to argue. Squall didn't realize how rich she was until now. She wouldn't have any trouble getting into med school that was for sure. A different person than before picked them up.

As they sat in the car, Squall thought, 'Was that a double date?' It certainly wasn't how he pictured it'd be. He wasn't sure what he expected but that definitely wasn't it. That seemed more like a group of friends getting together. Rinoa was the only one who dressed up for the occasion. 'Rinoa...' From the corner of his eye, Squall stole a quick glance at the dark haired beauty next to him. She was something else.

The car stopped in front of Rinoa's house not long later. She said goodbye to everyone as she climbed out and waved as they took off again. Squall stared out the back window until her figure could no longer be seen. His dream would be blessed with her image that night.


	8. Chapter Seven

Sorry that took so long. I've had a lot of reports and tests this week. I'm trying though. Thanks Selphie-fan for still reading this.

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"So? Tell me about it," Selphie said with an urgent tone. She had called while Rinoa was gone and left a message. That was the greeting Rinoa got when she called back.

"Not much to tell," Rinoa confessed. She was using the phone in her room. "It was kind of boring actually. Nobody really knew what to say. Squall talked to me though."

"Oh yeah? About what?"

"I don't know. He just asked me a few questions. It wasn't anything huge. Better than nothing, I guess. I was surprised he was there. Quistis told me she'd asked him to go but I didn't expect him to show up."

"Yeah me too. He doesn't seem like the type to go on a date. Know what I mean? He doesn't do much to go out of his way to talk to anyone. That doesn't mean you can't try though. You want him that bad, by all means... I'll even help you if you want."

"Well, I don't need any help right now," Rinoa said. "Thanks though."

"Yep. Just tell me when you need me. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

Selphie wasn't in school the next day, which left Rinoa practically alone. Quistis was there but Rinoa felt like staying away from her that day. Quistis didn't seem to notice Rinoa's –or Selphie's- absence. First hour went by extremely sow but second hour was even worse. Rinoa tried not to fall asleep during the teacher's lecture. Her vision began to blur, her eyes felt heavy, the teacher's voice sounded far away and Rinoa wanted to sleep. Without Selphie everything was dull and ordinary. All her energy had decided to leave and follow Selphie instead. A loud snap right next to her head made Rinoa jump out of the sleep she'd fallen into. "Either you start paying attention or you can leave right now, Ms. Heartilly," the teacher snarled.

"Sorry," Rinoa mumbled almost inaudibly. She thought about going to the office to call her mom. At the same time, she didn't want to go home. An isolated space with a warm blanket would be better. Just lying there, dreaming peacefully with no interruptions... Maybe Squall could even be there. He could hold her and fall asleep with her. The image stuck in her mind with the most painful realization that it would never happen. Someone like him would never be interested in her. She'd be more likely to bore him to death than anything else. He'd have more fun staring at the brick wall. The image of Squall sitting in a chair, having a serious conversation with a red-bricked wall entered her mind. It was impossible for her not to laugh, but when she did, she regretted it. Everyone, including the teacher, turned to look at her.

The teacher growled, "Go to detention, Ms. Heartilly." Rinoa hesitated a moment then walked out the door. This was the first time she had gotten in this much trouble. She had never had a detention before. When she stepped through the doorway, she saw that she wouldn't be the only person there. Squall Leonhart was already sitting in a desk. She took a seat next to him. The desks they were forced to sit in had a tall, thin piece of wood on the right and left sides, apparently an attempt to isolate students and keep them from talking. The rules were posted on the wall above the desk. Rinoa read them in her mind, 'One: no talking; two: have work to do; three: no food or drink allowed; four: no sleeping... Some of these rules are weird'. No one was in the room watching them so what was stopping them from breaking the rules? Maybe there were cameras hidden around the room or something. She glanced around at the room. Squall leaned back in his chair so he could be seen.

"Hey, Rinoa. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Um, I got a detention," she said.

"Really? Why?"

"Because I laughed in class."

"...? What teacher do you have?"

"Mrs. Smith."

"Ah, that explains it," he laughed a little. "She's always crabby. She hates me. She's part of the reason I'm in detention."

Rinoa asked, "Why _are_ you in here?"

"She made me late and wouldn't give me a pass. I have a lot of tardies so now I'm here. No offense but I'm assuming this is your first time in detention."

"Yeah it is. I-"

"No talking," a voice suddenly said from behind Rinoa's head. It made her jump out of her chair. The hint of a smile showed up on Squall's face. Rinoa stole a glance at the woman behind her. The woman was short and staulky. Her faded brown hair was curly, a few wrinkles stood out, her face had a sour look to it and she wore loose fitting clothes. Just by the look on her face, Rinoa could tell this woman was unapproachable, the icy-blue eyes of this woman made Rinoa want to run and hide. The unknown woman sat at a table behind them. Rinoa laid her head down on the small desk she was confined to. She stayed like that, undisturbed, until something hit her head and rolled to where her eyes could see the object. It was just a crumpled up piece of notebook paper.

"Open it," Squall whispered.

"Keep quiet, Mr. Leonhart."

Rinoa carefully opened up the smashed sheet and saw he had written on it. 'This teacher sucks,' she read. 'Zell told me there is another one that lets you talk as long as it doesn't get too loud'.

She scribbled, 'Yeah, she's certainly crabby,' in blue ink on the line under his penciled message before swiftly throwing it back. _'How could she not see us do that,' _Rinoa wondered. Apparently she wasn't that observant. The paper fell onto her desk with a soft noise.

'Hey, what were you and Selphie talking to Zell about that one day- I can't remember when it was,' he'd written. She knew what he was talking about but there was no way in hell she could tell him. He might get disgusted and quit talking to her or something. She had to play it safe for a while.

'I'm sorry,' she wrote. 'I can't remember either. Are you going out for any sports?'

'No. I don't really like any sports. Zell is thinking about being in track next year.'

'Cool. Quistis is going to try out for cheerleading.'

'Are you going out for cheerleading? I'll go to the games if you are.'

Rinoa could feel herself go red as she wrote, 'No. I don't think I could do that.' The bell rang just as she was about to throw it back to him but she let him read it anyway.

"Why do you say that?" he asked. They made their way down the hall, side-by-side.

Rinoa said, "Because- I don't know. I just don't think I can. Anyway, I got to go. Do you mind if I sit with you at lunch again?" This question seemed extremely risky to her but she took the chance despite.

"That's fine. See you later then." Squall walked the opposite direction and disappeared into the mass of people. Rinoa grabbed the books she needed from her locker before going to class.

Third hour was also boring and she almost fell asleep again. The teacher didn't seem to notice so she didn't get in trouble. It probably helped that she sat in the very back. Quistis was behind Rinoa in line at lunch. Rinoa tried not to zone out on what Quistis was saying. Rinoa was first to get her tray, which, in a way, wasn't good. Quistis followed her over to Squall and Zell's table. Squall tensed up at the sight of Quistis but he began to relax when she didn't hang on him. Quistis, Zell, and Squall were having fun picking on each other. As hard as she tried, Rinoa just couldn't get involved with what they were doing. She was so tired and so worried about Selphie that it was impossible to focus. Squall's eyes when he caught her with that unmistakable question, "What's wrong?" She could only shake her head. She dumped her tray, unable to eat, and hid out in the bathroom.

On the way to the last class of the day, Squall caught Rinoa in the hallway. "Rinoa," he said as he grabbed her shoulders. "Are you okay? What's the matter?"

She sighed, "Nothing. I'm fine."

"Come on. You obviously need a break from here and I'm willing to listen to what's eating you so tell me. Well, wait. I'll tell the teacher something so we wont get in trouble." He disappeared into the classroom for a moment then came back out. "I told her you were sick and that I was going to escort you to the nurse's office." Rinoa laughed a little. He smiled and said, "Come on. I know somewhere we can sit and talk." They went through the janitor's room out the door that led to the parking lot behind the school. A few teachers parked their cars back there because it was close to their classrooms. Since the seventh hour gym class was using the football field-which you had to walk up a path to get to- Squall took Rinoa to the baseball field nearby. Behind the small shed is where they found a place to sit. "So, what's been bugging you?" he asked. "Are you upset because you got a detention? It's not a big deal."

"Oh, no," she said with a forced smile. "That's not it. I'm worried about Selphie. I just have this bad feeling that something's wrong. She'd call me is she was sick- she calls me for everything."

"Well, you can try calling her after school just incase but I'm sure she's fine."

"Yeah... I'm just worried. She's my best friend, you know? I have to look out for her." Squall nodded. They were silent for a moment before she said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What?"

"Why are you in a foster home?"

"Because my father is an alcoholic and my mother is depressed." The tone of his voice dropped when he told her this. She could tell it was a touchy thing for him to talk about.

"Sorry to bring it up."

"No," he said, "that's okay. I've never talked about it before and I probably should. I've been away from them for a long time. The last time I saw either of them my dad tried to run off with us. He put me in the trunk and forced my mom into the car. The cops stopped him and I haven't seen either of them since. My social worker is supposed to come visit with me tomorrow but I doubt she'll have any news about my parents. As far as I know they haven't even tried to contact me." He sighed, his breath slightly ragged, "I wish I could see my mom again. She's a good person, you know? None of this is her fault." Rinoa took a chance by reaching over and hugging Squall. She was surprised he didn't pull away. Instead, he willingly hugged back.

"I'm sure your mom tried to contact you," Rinoa said. "But, I think something as serious as that happens, the social workers don't give either of you information about the other so you can be safe. You'll probably get to see your mom again but I doubt you'll get to see your dad again."

"That's all right," Squall said. His breath tickled her neck as he spoke. "I don't think I can handle seeing him again. I might flip out or something. I hate him and I wish I could tell him that." He pulled away from her and quickly wiped his face off. His eyes were a little red. Forcing a smile, he said, "Sorry. I get like that when I think about my mom. I know, it sounds stupid-"

"No, no."

"I'm such a baby," he remarked disgustedly.

"No you're not. You've never told anyone about this?" He shook his head that he hadn't. "If you ask me, you're pretty strong but you have to talk to _someone_ about it. You'll hurt even more if you try to hold it in."

"Yeah I know." They were quiet for a while until Squall said, "Are you going to the dance coming up?"

"I don't know," she said. "When is it?"

"In a few days, I think. I'm not sure. Quistis would probably know."

Rinoa laughed, "Yeah, actually she would. Did you have fun on the date?"

"I could hardly handle the _'date' _with her. Though it wasn't much of a date. Kind of pathetic, really. I mean, what did she expect us to do?"

"Maybe she was hoping you'd make-out with her." She couldn't help laughing at his reaction.

"You know, I'm fine with being her friend but anything more than that is not possible. She's a little too stuck-up for me. Besides... I already have someone in mind."

"Oh yeah?" Rinoa said, hiding the disappointment she felt. "And who would that be?"

"Nope. Can't tell you. It's a secret- at least, for now it is. Maybe you'll find out later."

"Okay. Should we go back now?"

"Yeah, probably. Let's go." They were able to slip back into school with no problems.

"Rinoa," the teacher said when they came in, "I thought you were sick."

"I'm still not feeling too well but I've gotten this far, might as well tough it out," she responded. The teacher seemed to accept this answer and did not question Rinoa any further.

Rinoa walked home from school with a backpack full of any books for homework she had. Before her mind could focus on any of that though, she had to call Selphie. The first time, no one answered, it just kept ringing. Instead of trying it again right away, Rinoa got to work on one of her assignments. Once one was finished, she called a second time. The process continued until she had finished her last assignment and called a fourth time. A faint click sound interrupted the ringing. "What do you want?" a gruff, male voice asked. She immediately hung up. That couldn't be who she thought it was; could it? It'd been a long time since she had heard his voice so she wasn't sure. Phone in hand, she decided to call again just to be sure. Someone picked up but whoever it was said nothing so Rinoa asked for Selphie. The same voice as before answered, "Who is this?" Rinoa slammed the phone back in its place. It _was_ him. Rick was out of jail but why was he at Selphie's house? Had her mom taken him back? More importantly, were Selphie and her mom okay? There wasn't anything Rinoa could do to find out right now. Going over there might be too dangerous. She wouldn't be able to call the police either. He was a freeman and as far as she knew he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Mom," Rinoa called as she walked into the kitchen.

Julia answered with a, "Yes dear?"

"Selphie wasn't in school today and... I tried calling her house but... Rick picked up the phone." The clatter of dishes being washed suddenly stopped. Her mother was just as worried as Rinoa.

"You're sure that was him?"

"Yeah. I called twice because I thought I was hearing things."

"What's her number?" Julia dialed the number her daughter gave her and waited while the phone rang. Someone must've picked up because Julia said, "Is Carol home?" Rinoa stared at her mother, wishing she could hear what was being said. "What are you doing there?" Julia's jaw tightened and her eyes became colder. "If you do anything to hurt her- damn it! The bastard hung up on me. I'll be back. I'm going over there to check."

"Mom, are you sure you should do that?"

"It'll be all right. Don't worry. I'll be back in five minutes."

With nothing else to do, Rinoa went up to her room. Her mother could get hurt if she wasn't careful. What if something bad happens to her mother? What if Rick seriously injured Selphie and Carol? What if they were dead? Three quick raps on the window made Rinoa jump. Her heart was beating faster then when she watches a scary movie. A barely recognizable Selphie was perched by the window. Rinoa let her shivering friend inside the house. "Where have you been?" Rinoa asked.

"Rick came back this morning," Selphie said. "I got mad at my mom for letting him stay so I ran away. I've just been wandering around town all morning."

"You don't know how worried I've been. I thought he hurt you or something. My mom just went over there."

"Good. Maybe _she _can talk some sense into her. It's cold out tonight."

"I can tell. Your cheeks are red. Have you been outside all day? I'm surprised your parents didn't find you."

"Nah, mom wouldn't come looking for me. When Rick is around, it's like she only cares about him. But no, I haven't been outside _all _day. Some girl let me stay in her house for a while."

Shock was expressed on Rinoa's face as she said, "You stayed at a stranger's house?"

"Well, yeah, but it's cool," Selphie insisted. "She was real nice. Probably about the same age as our moms and married too. Her name was Edea. Her hair was really long- down to her waist. It was pretty though. I was planning on bringing you to meet her sometime. So, what'd you do today?"

"Why are you asking about me? Shouldn't we be talking about you?"

"Ah I'm fine," Selphie responded as she plopped down on the bed. "So? Tell me."

"I got a detention and skipped class with Squall."

"A beautiful start to an odd romance."

"Shut up." Selphie was smacked in the face with a pillow.

"Okay, start with the detention."

Rinoa sighed, "All right. Well, Mrs. Smith gave me the detention."

Selphie scoffed, "Figures. What'd you do? Blink?"

"No I laughed."

"Oh heaven forbid we show any sign of happiness in her class."

"Yeah, well, I went to the detention room and Squall was already there. We passed notes back and forth and he asked me what we were talking to Zell about. Of course I couldn't tell him so I lied and told him I couldn't remember. Then when the bell rang, he walked me to my locker and I asked if I could sit at his table at lunch with him. I did but I forgot Quistis was following me so she sat down there too. Squall didn't seem very happy about that."

"Who could blame him? She practically stalks the guy. Anyway, what happened after that?"

"He caught me in the hall before seventh hour and told the teacher he was going to bring me to the office because I was feeling sick. We went out to the baseball field and talked. After a while, we went back to class. I told the teacher I was going to tough it out."

"Did he ask you out?"

"No, of course not. I'm sure there are a lot of other girls he'd rather date."

"Hey, Rinoa?" Selphie said after a few minutes of silence.

"Hm?"

"Can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure. You'd better go home after school tomorrow though or your mom will report you as a runaway."

Selphie scoffed, "I'm sure she has better things to do than worry about me. Plus, I doubt Rick would even let her phone the police if she wanted to. He's such a prick."

"Yeah... Do you need some clothes for bed?"

"No I'm okay. Want me to sleep on the floor?"

"Nah, you can sleep in the bed. It's definitely big enough." Rinoa and Selphie were asleep by the time Julia came hone, slamming the door shut behind her. Anger over-powered her because of her visit with Carol and Rick. Julia felt like bashing someone's head in- preferably Rick's. He had Carol hypnotized to believe him. He even put up the act with Julia but she saw right through it. That man was good at deceiving Carol. He had her at his feet. It was as though the incident years had never happened. It would be hard to shake this one but Julia was determined to help her friend. For now though, she just went to bed.


	9. Chapter Eight

Look at my story information page, please.

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Selphie went to school with Rinoa. Julia was surprised to see Selphie when they came downstairs. They got to school ten minutes early so the two hung out by the ledge above the lockers. Selphie bombarded Rinoa with more questions about Squall. Rinoa took the subject in a new direction to a dream she had last night. "It wasn't much really," she told her friend. "Basically I just kissed him. That's about it."

"Fantasies can become reality if you want them to," Selphie said with a smile.

"That was just a dream, not a fantasy."

"Oh whatever." They both giggled. Quistis joined them five minutes later and Selphie filled her in on Rinoa's dream.

"Hey," Quistis said, "it could happen."

"Yeah right," Rinoa said.

"Why not? You're pretty, you're nice, and you've got a great personality. Why couldn't it happen?"

Rinoa was surprised by this remark. "You really think that?"

"Of course I do. There's nothing wrong with either of you."

"Well... thanks."

"No need to thank me. I'm just pointing out the obvious. I'm going to class early, I have to ask the teacher something, see you girls later."

"Bye," they both answered.

"That was unexpected," Selphie said.

Rinoa agreed, "Yeah. I wish I would've said something nicer to her but I didn't know what to say." When the bell rang and they headed for class, the two noticed a cheap, construction paper posters being put up about the dance. It was coming up in a few days. "Friday night from six to nine," Rinoa read. "Shouldn't they have put them up earlier?"

Selphie gave a shrug and said, "Probably but you know our school... You going to go?"

"No, I don't think so. Squall asked me if I was going and I said no. I'd rather not sit around and watch a bunch of popular people make-out."

"Me either. Maybe I'll go to that girl Edea's house. I certainly don't plan on staying home."

During class Rinoa wondered if Squall was going go to the dance. He was probably going with Quistis. It would hurt too much to sit there and watch that. She decided she'd go with Selphie to Edea's house. It'd be fun and not-so depressing. If she went to the dance and saw Quistis with Squall, there's a good chance Rinoa would cry. She might get teased or something then, that'd be even worse. Her whole weekend would probably be ruined after that. It was all too much for her to handle so when Quistis asked Rinoa if she was going, she had her answer. "What do you mean 'no'?" Quistis asked.

"I told Selphie I'd go with her to Edea's," she said. Selphie just backed Rinoa up by nodding in agreement.

"Oh I think you'll change your mind."

"I think I wont. My mind's made up."

Quistis shrugged as she said, "Where are we sitting at lunch? Are we sitting at Squall's table again?"

Rinoa looked at Selphie and Selphie said, "I don't care. That's fine with me." Quistis sat by Squall when lunch came time came around. Zell was pretty mad that she had taken his usual spot. He argued with her a long time about it but she ended up winning. Selphie gave Quistis 'the evil eye' though it did no good because Quistis wasn't paying attention. All Rinoa could do was stare at the table. The chattering noise of other students was nothing compared to the taunting loudness of Quistis trying to hold a conversation with Squall. A sick feeling came over Rinoa while her stomach churned. She felt dizzy because everything seemed to be spinning. It was impossible for her to handle sitting there any longer.

"Excuse me," she mumbled before scurrying off. After the plastic tray was out of her hands, she escaped into the bathroom. She found it very difficult to suppress her tears. Too many emotions were running through her at once. But what was she so upset about? Hadn't she been expecting this? She thought she had but apparently she hadn't prepared herself for it. This is what happens when she has any hope for something good to come. It seemed she would forever be tortured to watch Quistis flirt with Squall. Rinoa would kill herself before she let herself go through that pain. There was a knock on the stall and a voice rang out, "Are you okay, Rinoa?"

"Yeah," she mumbled. "I'm fine. Why does she always do that to me, Selphie?"

"I don't know. She needs to be slapped or something... Want me to hit her?"

"No. I just want her to stop. I guess it doesn't really matter though. Want to go to class early with me?"

"Sure. Come on. I have to go to my locker first."

"Me too." Rinoa came out of the confinement of the stall and followed Selphie to her locker, keeping her head down the whole time. If she looked up, there was a chance she would see Quistis and Squall together. It made her nervous to think about that. After visiting Selphie's locker, they made a stop at Rinoa's before going off to class. Quistis came in happier than ever when the bell rang. It angered Rinoa to see that too but what did she expect? Quistis sat in the desk in front of Rinoa and turned around to face her.

"You're going to come over Friday after school for a while," she said.

"I'll be busy," Rinoa told her. "I'm going somewhere with Selphie."

"Well you can cancel it and come to my house. You'll thank me later." She turned back to the front of the class as the teacher began to speak. Cancel her plans with Selphie? How dare she try to run Rinoa's life! Who did she think she was? All Rinoa could do was clench a fist under her desk and bite her tongue. Quistis was going to get an earful at the end of the day. There was no way Rinoa could concentrate on anything because she was overtaken by anger. The last hour of the day was long because she was anxious to get to Quistis. However, the "perfect opportunity" for Rinoa to vent her feelings on Quistis didn't come. The troublemaker was nowhere to be found. Anger followed Rinoa out of school and back to her house. It was a difficult task not to take the bothersome emotion out on anyone else. The job of verbal punching bag was reserved for Quistis.

"Are you okay, Rinoa?" Julia asked during dinner.

"I'm just fine," Rinoa answered without even trying to force a smile. There would be no use in it because it would be too easy to see past. She wasn't in the mood for fake smiles anyway. It'd be different if she were sad though. Anytime she was sad she could easily hide it from her mom because her concealing smile was award winning. She'd be the richest movie star if that were all you had to do. But it was impossible for her to plaster a smile on her face when she was this angry.

"Don't lie to your mother," Caraway grumbled.

"I'm not lying dad! I just had a bad day and I don't feel like talking about it."

Julia said, "That's fine dear. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Since you're in a bad mood, I'll leave alone."

"Sorry mom, sorry dad."

"You don't have to apologize. Everyone has a bad day once in a while. When you're done eating go take a little walk, maybe you'll feel better."

Rinoa picked at her dinner for a little while longer before dumping it in the garbage. Taking her mom's advice, she went out the door for a walk. It was a little chilly outside but she didn't feel like going back to get her jacket. She tried to keep her mind blank as she walked but that proved to be an extremely difficult task. The only thing she could think about was Squall Leonhart. She'd even dreamed about him now and then. It was almost as though she was obsessed which worried her. if he ever found out there's no doubt in her mind that he would hate her, be extremely disgusted, and never talk to her again. Most people obsessed with another person stalked them, built a shrine, and stole some of the person's things- like a comb they used. She didn't do anything of that nature but maybe that was just because she didn't know where he lived. Soon she was too preoccupied worrying about whether or not she was obsessed with Squall that she forgot she was angry at Quistis. By time she came home, she was no longer mad but concerned instead. She was so bothered by this it made her upset and she fled to her room before bursting into tears. There was obviously no chance for her to be with Squall. If she could kiss him- just once- she'd be happy with that. Even if he spit on the ground in disgust, she would be happy. Her "wishful" thinking plagued her dreams.

Rinoa was nearly late for school because she was still upset. Julia drove her there in time and gave her some money to get a little something for breakfast. Money in hand with her backpack slung over her shoulder, Rinoa stood in line for the ala Carte. Four people were ahead of her and the first person was taking forever to get their stuff. She would be late for class if they didn't hurry up. Suddenly her body became tense because there was a presence behind her. She could always tell when someone was trying to sneak up on her. "Hey Rinoa," Squall's voice rang out. She'd recognize his voice anywhere. "I've got a question for you."

"Okay, what?" she said as she turned to look at him.

"Do you, uh... Do you want to go to the dance tomorrow night with me? I can just meet you there or I can pick you up somehow. Whatever you want to do is fine."

She was stunned. This was not what she'd expected at all. "You want me to go to the dance with you?"

"Yeah but if you don't want to, that's okay too."

"No, no. I'll go I'm just surprised you asked me. That's something I never thought you'd do."

"Why?" She just shook her head at this question. She ended up being late for class but it didn't matter anymore. Squall Leonhart had asked her to go to the dance with him. There was nothing that could bring her down. Immediately when she saw Selphie in the hallway, she informed her on the good news. Selphie squealed with happiness for her friend. This was a big deal- this was a once in a lifetime thing almost. It felt that way to Rinoa anyway.

"I have to go now," said Selphie. "I have to see you two together. I bet it'll be cute. We can go to Edea's on Saturday instead if you want."

"Okay that's fine. Do you want to spend the night at my house on Friday then?"

"I got to ask my mom but I'm sure it'll be okay. Do you think he'll ask you out after the dance?"

"I doubt it. Knowing my luck it'll all be a trick and if that happens, I'll never come to school again."

"That wont happen," Selphie tried to reassure her friend. "There's nothing to worry about."

During lunch, Rinoa knew she'd be uncomfortable and embarrassed sitting by Squall so she didn't. Instead she stayed at the table they used to sit at with Selphie. Selphie understood Rinoa's reasons for doing so and stuck by her dear friend. Because they were so hyper from the good news, they giggled about every little thing. Selphie got a kick out of the nutrition facts on her milk carton. If everyday could be that way they'd never have anything to worry about, to cry over, get angry or fight over. Rinoa raced Selphie to the bathroom once they had dumped their trays. They both laughed when Rinoa almost tripped on the stairs. By the time their fifth hour class was over, however, they had calmed down. Rinoa avoided Squall the rest of the day. She was afraid she'd act like an idiot if she were around him.

The door slammed shut behind her as she came into the entryway of her house. "Mom," she called. "I got something to tell you!"

Julia followed her daughter's voice saying, "What dear?"

"I'm going to the dance tomorrow and Quistis wants me to come over after school before the dance starts."

"That's fine. What made you change your mind?"

"Squall Leonhart asked me if I would go with him." She spoke his name with such enthusiasm that it was almost as though he was a celebrity.

"Leonhart? ... Is that the Dinchts's adopted son?"

"Well that's his foster home. I don't think they adopted him. But yeah, that's who I'm going with. Is there any dresses I can wear?"

"I don't have any but my formal ones," Julia said. "They are all too big for you anyway. I bet Quistis will have some."

"Yeah, she probably would. Thanks mom," she called before running to her room. She spent the next day trying not to act too anxious during school. Quistis had Rinoa and Selphie sit at different table from Squall with her. Quistis told them about some of the ideas that she had for Rinoa.

"The colors I'm thinking for you," she said in between chews, "is maybe a dark blue, or pink, or white. We'll see which one looks best on you when you come over. I didn't want Squall to hear my plans for you so that's why we're sitting here. Anyway, we can put make-up on according to the colors you wear. I have shoes to match too."

Selphie said, "Don't you think you're making TOO big of a deal out of this?"

"No. This is a big deal! She's got a date to the dance. It IS a big deal because it's important."

"Okay. I guess I'll quit interfering then." Selphie picked her tray up and walked off. Rinoa wanted to go after her but Quistis held her back.

"Don't worry about Selphie," she said. "She'll be fine. Let's focus on what we're going to do. Since the dance is tonight, I want you to not talk to Squall as much. Tease him a little."

"Tease him?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah. Don't really spend any time with him until the dance." Rinoa just nodded. She never realized getting ready for a dance was so complicated. Throughout the day though, she followed the instructions given by Quistis. At the end of the school day, Quistis's father picked up Quistis and Rinoa. "We have to get started right away," Quistis said once they were in her room. "We only have three hours to do this."

"Is it really going to take THAT long?"

"It might. Let's see what I have in my closet." Rinoa took a seat on Quistis's giant pink bed while Quistis went through the closet. Numerous dresses were thrown out onto the floor. None of the dresses looked familiar so it was apparent to Rinoa that Quistis had never worn them before. "These are all new," Quistis sighed as she came out of the closet. "Let's see... I think we'll give you a low-cut dress."

"Low cut?"

"Don't worry, it's not that bad. We'll give you a nice, nonformal one too. Which color would you like to try?"

"What colors do you have?"

"You name it, I probably got it."

"Well, why don't YOU just pick something? I don't know what I'm doing anyway." Rinoa tried on all the different colors and designs of the dresses Quistis owned before they made a choice. Their selection was a medium pink dress with spaghetti-straps that stopped a few inches above Rinoa's knees. It wasn't anything formal looking really but it was nice. Quistis out matching make-up on Rinoa's face. She didn't want anything done with her hair so Quistis left it alone. Once Quistis fixed herself up, they were ready to go.

They were taken to the dance and before they went inside, Quistis said, "You should be happy I was able to get him to do this." Rinoa didn't know what to say about this remark. She just blankly followed her friend through the doors. Other students stood in line with their money, waiting to get in. There were a few other girls somewhat dressed up too so Rinoa felt more comfortable. After handing their money over, Rinoa and Quistis walked into the gym. It was dark inside despite the colored lights in the corners of the room. A small set of bleachers was set up near the doors. Some people had already found a place on it. The DJ had music blasting out of the giant speakers so loud it made Rinoa wonder if she would go deaf. It definitely seemed like a possibility. Quistis yelled over the noise, "There he is! Get going girl!" Squall made his way toward Rinoa as Quistis walked off. She was still trying to figure out what the comment Quistis had made earlier meant. She needed to get away from everything so she could think. Dodging Squall, she fled the room and hid out in the hallway. Had Quistis FORCED Squall into doing this? Was this some weird attempt for one of them to get closer to the other? Did Squall like Quistis? Nausea hit her stomach hard and her heart seemed to ram against her ribs. This is what happens when she gets her hopes up.

Footsteps approached and Squall knelt down by her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Not really," she said. "If you wanted to be with Quistis, why didn't you just go with her? I would've preferred not to have been dragged into this, thank you."

"What are you talking about?"

"She obviously forced you into this and I'm assuming you went along with it so you could get her to do some type of favor for you. It hurts when someone who's supposed to be your friend messes around with someone you like. I'm sick of putting up with it."

"Rinoa, I swear to you I have no interest in Quistis. She offered me the idea of taking you to the dance because she knows I like you."

"You do?" He nodded. She said, "Why?"

"Because you're pretty, nice, you care about people and I can talk to you without feeling uncomfortable," he told her. "Come on now. I want to have SOME fun here. We can just sit out here if that's what you want. As long as you're not mad at me, I don't care."

"I'm not mad at you. We can go sit on the bleachers if you want. I'm sure Quistis would yell at me if she saw me sitting on the floor in her dress." Squall helped her up and they walked back into the gym. They found somewhere to sit and had to yell whenever they talked to each other. When a slow song came up they were both hesitant to drag the other out on the floor. Their problem was solved, however, after Quistis told them to get out there. Squall put his arms around Rinoa as she put her head on his shoulder.

"Did I tell you that you look nice yet?" he asked.

She said, "No."

"Well you do. Just thought you should know that. You don't have a boyfriend, right?"

"No I don't."

"Good. Maybe I have a chance then."

After the slow dance was over, they sat down on the bleachers. Quistis asked her friend why she wasn't dancing. "I'm not a good dancer," Rinoa said. "Slow dancing is easy." Quistis went out there by herself but didn't seem to mind. Selphie came running in a few minutes later, asking what she'd missed. "Not a whole lot," Rinoa told her.

Selphie asked, "Did you two dance already?"

"Yeah."

"Awww. Can you do it again?"

"Maybe." Selphie sat with them until they got up for another slow dance. The flash of Selphie's camera surprised them. "You're making too big of a deal out of this," Rinoa said.

Selphie shrugged and responded, "I think you two look cute together. Is that so wrong?" For the rest of the time, the three of them hung out in the cafeteria. Quistis came by every now and then but mainly stayed in the gym with everyone else. Selphie left earlier than they did. They waited until the dance was completely over before leaving. Quistis offered Squall a ride home.

"That's okay," he said. "I don't live very far from here so I can just walk. Thanks anyway though. Bye, Rinoa."

Rinoa said, "Bye." She stared out the window as she was taken home.

Before Rinoa got out, Quistis said, "I'm sorry, Rinoa, for being so mean to you. That's why I set this up for you. I knew you two liked each other so I thought I'd help you out. I hope that makes up for it." Rinoa hugged Quistis and thanked her. Quistis really DID care about her friends. She didn't know how much Rinoa appreciated the apology.


	10. Chapter Nine

It seems I have lost all my readers for this story. Ah well. I'll keep updating incase you guys come back. This is a long chapter.

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During the weekend, Selphie took Rinoa to her friend Edea's house. Edea had long black hair, just as Selphie had said. Her face was pale, her eyes were blue and she wore an ordinary gray dress. "Come in," she said with a smile. "This must be the friend you were telling me about. Rinoa, isn't it?"

Rinoa said, "Uh, yeah."

"Well, come have a seat." They stepped inside and Edea shut the door behind them. The living room was painted a dark purple. Black couches and chairs were pushed back against the wall. A black rug was centered on the floor. Rinoa sat down by Selphie on the couch while Edea took the chair. "Selphie has mentioned you numerous times," she said. "Tell me something about yourself. What are you looking for in life?"

"Um, I really don't know what to tell you... I want to be a writer."

"A writer? Very interesting indeed. What kind of things do you write about? Do you write poems or stories?"

"I write stories mostly. I haven't written very many poems."

Snapping her fingers, Selphie said, "I got it. Edea, you should do a Tarot reading for her. Do you want to try it, Rinoa?"

"Um, okay."

"Let me go get my cards," Edea said as she stood. "Wait in the dining room for me." Selphie had Rinoa follow her into the next room. The white walls had red, silk curtains draped from them. A star inside a circle was carved in each corner of the wood table. The crystals on the chandelier overhead shimmered when touched by the light. "Don't you just love this room?" Edea asked when she came in. "My husband loves it too."

As she traced the star etched in the wood, Rinoa asked, "What are these symbols?"

"It's a pentacle. Pentacles are the symbols of protection." Edea sat in the chair in the middle of the two girls, at the head of the table. She set the cards out on the table. "Pick a significator, Rinoa."

"A significator?"

"The card you want to represent you." Rinoa's eyes scanned the drawings on the cards. Each image mentally noted in her head until one seemed to grab her eyes. The woman on the card had dark brown hair, her expression appeared to be chastened but her eyes told of great sorrow. Her right hand raised a sword, it's blade pointing toward the sky. "The Queen of Swords," Edea tells her. The significator is placed on the table while the remaining cards are shuffled. She places the deck on the table so that the pictures on the cards are hidden. Her pale fingers pluck one card from the top and place it on the significator. Four staffs are planted on the ground in the picture. A garland is hanging from the staffs. Two girls in the background hold posies up in the air. "This card, the Four of Wands, represents your environment," Edea says. "Your surroundings are peaceful."

Selphie gave her friend a confused look as she asks, "What about Quistis?"

"She apologized to me last night," Rinoa responded. "She said she was sorry for acting like that." Selphie raised her eyebrows in amazement. Edea drew up the next card and laid it horizontally on the Four of Wands.

"This one, the Two of Wands," she said, meeting Rinoa's gaze, "represents any problem you might be having. This certain obstacle, fear, appears to be within yourself." Rinoa takes a glance at the card. It shows a horseman with a laurel crown hanging from his staff and footmen with staves are at his side. The next card is put above the last three. A man and a woman are pledging to each other. Above their cups is the caduceus of Hermes and the head of a lion is in-between the wings. "This card, the Three of Cups, reveals your desire. You wish for love and friendship." As she nods in agreement, Rinoa feels her face get hot and turn a slight shade of pink.

"Don't be embarrassed," Selphie says. "That one is kind of obvious."

A fourth card finds its place below the center cards. It displays a blindfolded person holding two swords. The blades cross at the handles and rest against the opposite shoulder. A crescent moon is above the calm sea. "The Two of Swords shows me what you have to work with. You have courage, friendship, and intimacy to help you through your problems. The Knight of Wands," Edea said as she set the fifth card upside down to the left of the center cards. Pictured in the card was a man armed with a small wand, wearing armor as if he were traveling. "It tells of a problem that has recently passed or been resolved. Being upside down means the meaning is reversed. The reverse meaning for this card stands for rupture, division, and interruption."

"Probably your fight with Quistis," Selphie pointed out.

Rinoa said, "That's what I was thinking too."

A sixth card finds its place upside down on the right of the center cards. "Anything about to happen to you in the future is represented by this card, the Two of Wands," Edea says. "This one is also reversed, so it stands for surprise, wonder, trouble, and fear. Be careful, Rinoa. This could mean many things." Edea drew up a seventh card and put it by the right hand corner of the sixth card, upside down again. The woman in the card was kneeling in the card, pouring water from her right hand into a small pool and from her left hand water is poured onto the ground. A bird sits on a tree in front of a background full of eight point stars. "Your attitude about the upcoming problem is revealed by this card, The Star. Your attitude will be stubborn, pessimistic, and doubtful. The Ten of Wands," Edea said holding the eighth card up for Rinoa to see before placing it, upside down, beneath the seventh card. The image of the Ten of Wands showed a man vexed by the weight of ten staffs being carried. "Your environment in the upcoming problem will be full of contrarieties, intrigues, and difficulties. The ninth card, the Ace of Cups, represents two things: your hopes and fears. You hope to be happy and content but you fear instability." Rinoa's eyes wandered to the ninth card. A hand rises from a cloud in the picture holding a cup with four streams pouring from it. A dove holding a cross-marked host descends down to the water below. The last card finds its place beneath the ninth one. "The Lovers," Edea says, "represents what will come to you." The card shows a man and a woman standing below a cloud where a figure rises. His wings are black with a red shine, his robe is brown, and the sun is bright behind him. "A self-explanatory card but it means love, beauty, and attraction."

"That could be about you and Squall," Selphie whispers, making Rinoa blush.

Rinoa whispers back, "I doubt that."

"Oh come on. Give yourself a break for a change. He likes you as if its not obvious." Rinoa shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Would you like to see the rest of the house?" Edea asked.

"Yeah I would," Rinoa said, "if you don't mind." The two friends followed Edea up the winding staircase. Although short the hallway was wide and filled with various statues. On one side, statues resembling angels stood side-by-side. Across from the angels were demon statues, also side-by-side. At the end of the hall was a statue of a woman that caught Rinoa's attention. The statue was only slightly taller than Rinoa. Unlike the others this one was colored. The dark purple, long sleeved dress was a real dress too. The collar of the dress was made of black feathers. A metal half circle with small spikes coming out each angle was attached to the statue's back. A purple headdress containing various ornaments concealed its hair.

"This is the statue of a sorceress," Edea's voice rang. "Someone made this one special for me. The others were bought from various places."

"It's beautiful. It sort of looks like... you."

"Yes and I used to wear this dress once upon a time. But this is a nice way to show it off. Come, I'll show you my room. If you haven't been able to tell that I love purple by now, you should be able to in here." They stepped onto the purple carpet, into Edea's bedroom. With the exception of the dresser, the doors, and anything else made out of wood, everything was purple. The wall and the carpet were so well blended you could hardly see a line separating the two. Selphie flopped onto the purple bed, her figure still visible behind the light colored curtains.

"Come look at this," Selphie called. Rinoa took a seat next to her friend. They both glanced up at the ceiling.

Rinoa whispered, "Oh wow..." The ceiling was painted like the midnight sky. A crescent moon surrounded by stars and barely visible clouds hung over them. "That's beautiful."

Edea said, "It took a long time for my friend to finish painting that. She did a wonderful job. Well, other than the bathrooms and the kitchen that's all there is to see. The kitchen is nothing special, just your average, everyday kitchen."

Selphie sat up as she said, "Edea, you're a witch, right?"

"Well a _Wiccan _to be more specific but yes."

"Isn't that ... evil?"

"Evil? No. There's good and bad in everything. Not all magick is used for good but it's entirely up to the person using it how it is used. A gun can be used for protection or for murder, for example. But I don't think you can kill anyone with magick. If you use magick to harm anyone in any way, you get it back three times worse. But I stick to healing spells so I've never had that problem."

"So its not the magick that's evil, its the person?"

"I wouldn't even say that, really. It's just that a person's intentions may not always be good."

"Have you met anyone around here that's been using it to hurt people?" Selphie pried.

"No. Girls, I'd like to ask you a favor. Don't tell anyone else of my Wiccan religion. It is not widely accepted and I'm sure the people around here would cause a fuss."

"Okay," Selphie and Rinoa said simultaneously, "I promise."

"Thank you, girls. I'm just afraid people would get the wrong idea about me if they were to find out."

"Edea," Selphie started, "I don't mean to ask you so many questions but is it at all possible for you to do a love spell for my friend, Rinoa?"

"Selphie!" Rinoa barked. "Shh!"

"It is possible," Edea answered. "But I wouldn't do it for anyone."

"Why not?" Selphie asked.

"Because, opinion-wise, it isn't real love. Some people see it as a forced or false love. The main reason though is because the person will _always _love you, whether you still love them or not. Now, depending on the person, they could become dangerous. That isn't always the case but I'm sure it's possible."

"Kind of scary."

"Which is why I don't want to do it."

"Understandable." Rinoa and Selphie chatted with Edea for another hour before going home. Julia told Rinoa that a boy had called asking for her.

"Who was it?" Rinoa asked.

Julia said, "Squall, I think he said his name was."

"Well, did- did he leave a number?"

"Yeah. I wrote it down. The paper is by the phone for you." Rinoa grabbed it and ran to her room. Her heart pounded against her ribs while her fingers dialed the number on the paper.

Rinoa stuttered, "Is- is Squall there?"

"Hold on," a woman's voice said.

A few seconds later Squall's voice rang in her ear, "Hello?"

Rinoa said, "Um, hi. You called here, right?"

"Yeah I wanted to see if you were free to do anything. So, are you?"

"Mmhmm, I am. What did you want to do?"

"I don't know. Do you want to walk around town or something? I could meet you somewhere."

"Okay. Do you want to meet me here or would you rather meet me in front of school?"

Squall said, "School is fine. I can't remember where you live or that'd be fine. Plus, I'm terrible at directions."

Rinoa giggled, "That's okay, me too. Can we meet in half an hour, forty five minutes?"

"Yeah. See you soon."

"Bye Squall."

"Bye, Rinoa." They both hung up and a sudden surge of excitement made Rinoa's body tingle. She ran to her closet and tried to find the perfect outfit to wear. She knew it probably wouldn't matter what she wore but nonetheless she still wanted to look her best. After putting on her white flares and white sleeveless shirt, Rinoa fidgeted until it was time to go.

"Here's some money," Julia said, handing her daughter a ten-dollar bill. "You want to be dropped off at school you said?" Her daughter simply nodded as she climbed in the car. Squall was already waiting when they got there. Rinoa couldn't help smiling when Squall waved to her. "Give me a call once you're ready to come home or I'll call Squall's house and have you meet me there."

"Okay, mom," Rinoa said as she hugged her mother. "See you later."

Squall smirked and said, "So, where should we go?"

"Everywhere. Let's just walk around 'til we get tired." They walked down the road in the direction of the grocery store in town. "Heard from Quistis lately?" Rinoa asked with a smile.

"No. I think she's finally given up. She's nice and everything but damn, I don't like her that way, you know?" She nodded. "How long have you known Selphie and Quistis?"

"I met Selphie in third grade. She was pretty much my only friend until we met Quistis. I think we met her in fifth grade. If it weren't for them I'd probably still hate school and complain to my mom about it."

"I never really minded school that much. It was that I had to move from place to place that really bugged me. You get tired of moving around after a while."

"No kidding. I don't think I could handle moving once."

"It was harder when they decided to hide me from my parents."

"Why did they do that?" Rinoa asked then hurriedly added, "If you don't want to tell me that's okay too."

"No it's fine. Remember when I told you that my dad put me in the trunk of his car?"

"Yeah."

"Well, after the cops caught him, they home schooled me for a while. He still followed me when I was finally able to go back to public school though so they moved me. They didn't even tell my mother where I was going."

"They probably thought your dad would find out if she knew. Did your social worker ever come to see you like she was supposed to?"

Squall gave a slight nod and said; "She didn't say anything new though. Nothing about my parents either. I even asked her but she avoided the question." Both fell silent as they walked through the automatic doors of the blue grocery store. Cashiers, stock boys, and other employees wore matching maroon shirts that bore the name of the store to signify that they worked there. Squall grabbed hold of Rinoa's wrist while they made their way through a crowd of people smashed together by the small aisle. Rinoa's skin tingled with the sorrow of the absence of Squall's touch when he let go. They picked out something to drink before heading to the checkout. Squall took Rinoa's from her and put it with his.

"I can pay for it," she said.

"It's only a dollar, it's not a big deal or anything. I got it, okay?" He smiled at her and she smiled back. Outside the store, Rinoa suggested they go to the elementary school park.

"I just want to sit on the swings for a while then we can walk some more." She touched the sleeve of his jacket as she added, "There's a shortcut down the alley here. It's faster than walking all the way around." Walking past the small cafes in town they eventually made their way to the tall brick building. "The park is in the back," she said as they followed the slanted sidewalk down to the top of the tarred hill. "Race you to the swings."

"Loser buys dinner," Squall announced as he took off. Their feet pounded against the ground until they came to the rock pit. Squall lunged at Rinoa, knocking her down before she could win.

She laughed, "You cheated."

He smiled back at her. "You're just saying that because you lost."

"Guess we'll have to split the cost of dinner then, cheater."

"You're a sore loser."

"And you're a pathetic winner. Help me up, please."

"That may be so but I still won." His hand clasped hers and she was pulled to her feet. She hit his shoulder before sitting on the blue piece of rubber called a swing. Squall leaned against a nearby pole. The squeak of the chain as it whisked the swing back and forth was the only thing filling the silence between the two. Rinoa bit down on her lip, trying to think of something to say. "Your mother sounds a lot like you," he finally said. "Err, you sound a lot like her. You look like her too. Does she work at all?"

"She used to but she quit. She used to sing at the bar part of a fancy hotel at night. I think she met my dad there."

"Not that I've heard her sing but has she ever tried going professional?"

"I think she would've loved to have done that but I don't know if she's ever tried. I bet she would've gone far with that though."

"What does your dad do?"

"To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. He goes out of town and has a lot of meetings. He's in charge of some big business in the city," she said.

"Then why don't you guys live in the city?"

"Mom grew up here so I'm assuming she pressured dad into living here. Well, not _pressured. _Mom and dad have never fought so pressured seems like too strong of a word."

"Too bad my parents weren't like that. Then again, I might not have met you. You're probably the only one that makes me _want _to stay here." Rinoa tilted her head down to hide her reddened face. Everything suddenly felt like a dream to her. She found it hard to believe this was real. Squall kneeled in front of her, bringing his gaze to meet hers. Letting her instincts take control, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. They stayed like that for minutes until she pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't so anything wrong. It's okay." He pulled her back into his arms. "It's okay."

"I know, I'm fine now. I didn't mean to over react like that. Can we go eat now?"

"Sure. Come on." They walked back up the tarred hill to the cafe on the corner. A small table for two was open so they took a seat. A waitress handed them menus not more than five minutes later. It didn't take long for Rinoa to pick something out. She picked out the smallest, least expensive meal. She wasn't really all that hungry to be honest, but she ate something anyway. Squall took longer to decide and while he did, Rinoa stared at the menu. Once the waitress came back, they ordered. The chatter of others around them kept the silence out. "So," Squall said, "do you want to go to Zell's house after this?"

She nodded as she answered, "Yeah."

"It's not _too _long of a walk. From here it shouldn't take us long at all. Fujin always drives us home from school 'cause it's a longer walk from there." She just nodded, not knowing what else to do or say. After eating, they made their way to Zell's house. "Do you want to call your mom?" Squall asked when they arrived.

"In a little bit," she said. "I just want to rest for a while."

"Come on, we can go upstairs." She followed him up the tiny staircase to the small room Squall and Zell shared. "My bed is over here. That's Zell's. He's not here right now. They all left."

"Where did they go?"

"They took Zell to get a new skateboard. I didn't want to go. They left not long after you called me back."

"Oh." Squall sat down by her. She felt her heart begin to beat faster out of nervousness. Rinoa whispered, "Maybe I should call my mom now." They stood and he grabbed a hold of her wrist. In an instant she felt Squall's lips press against hers. His arms wrapped around her body and pulled her closer to him. When they broke off, Squall smiled at Rinoa's reddened face and kissed her again. She bit her tongue to keep from speaking the words that were haunting her brain. "I like you," she said, toning it down a bit.

He whispered back, "I like you too."

They started dating after that. The weekend always seemed to be reserved for them to be together. Selphie sometimes called to say, "It's great that you have a boyfriend but don't forget you have friends too." Rinoa apologized every time and spent a day with her friends. Julia insisted that Rinoa bring Squall over for dinner after they had been going out for a year. Squall was a little nervous around Caraway but it seemed to go well. Rinoa's father didn't speak badly of him after he had gone. It wasn't until they reached the end of their sophomore year that the troubles began.

"Mom," Rinoa said one day. "I need your help."

"When did this happen?" Julia asked.

"Remember when I went to stay with Squall and the Dinchts's a few months ago? Well Squall and I didn't stick around. His friend Fujin let us go with her to the cities and, well..."

"Your father isn't going to be very happy about this. I hope Squall is planning on taking some responsibility for this. If he abandons you, Rinoa- No, he won't do that, your father would never let him get away with it."

Rinoa started to sob, "I haven't talked to Squall about it yet. I came to you first."

"Well an abortion is out of the question."

"I know. I know."

"Talk to Squall about it, alright? I'll talk to your father." Rinoa could only nod. She called Squall the next day and went to his house. Both of them had something to tell the other. Squall went first.

"I talked to my social worker the other day," he said, "and I finally got her to set up a meeting between me and my parents. I'm not supposed to let anyone know because she isn't supposed to do that. But, anyway, would you come with me? Fujin will drive us."

Rinoa said, "I will but I've got something important to tell you. I, um, am expecting."

"Expecting what?"

"What do you think? I'm pregnant, Squall." He had no idea what to say, he was too stunned. "My dad wants to talk to you about it sometime. I don't think there's anything to worry about. Just don't argue with him and everything will be fine."

"Rinoa, I- ... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He hugged her and tears began to soak the sleeve of his white shirt. "I'll help you, Rinoa. I promise I will."

"I know, Squall."

"I'll talk to your dad when we come to pick you up tomorrow." Rinoa's stomach churned with a sickly bad feeling all day the next day. She tried as hard as she could to keep herself calm. When Squall came, he was greeted with a hug. "Where's your dad?" he asked while giving her a squeeze back.

She said, "In his office. Come on. I'll bring you up there." Taking his hand, she led him up the staircase into her father's office.

"Rinoa," her father called as she was leaving, "shut the door please." She did as she was told. "Have a seat, Mr. Leonhart. I'm assuming my daughter has already given you the news."

"Yes, sir," Squall said, "she has. She told me yesterday."

"And I'm sure you already know what I'm expecting from you but I'm going to tell you anyway. First of all you're going to need a job so you can support her. Don't even try to abandon her, you wont get away with it." Squall felt himself becoming increasingly uncomfortable. He knew he was being threatened in a lesser sense. After swallowing his fear down, he continued to listen. "This kid is also going to need a father. I'm willing to pay for the wedding and even a divorce if it doesn't work out between you two. My granddaughter will not grow up in a hostile environment."

Squall said, "Yes, sir." Caraway dismissed him without another word.


	11. Chapter Ten

To Selphiefan: no worries -. I figured anyone was busy doing other things. I've been busy too. I just hope those that started reading this story will continue whenever they have the time -. Read and review, please -.

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Fujin drove them to the town in which Squall used to live. He was surprised that Fujin was trying to hold a little conversation with Rinoa. In his presence, at least, Fujin never associated with strangers unless forced to. "Is your father going to be there?" Fujin asked him, meeting his eyes in the small mirror.

Squall said, "Yeah, I assume so."

"Are you prepared for that?" He didn't respond to this right away because he wasn't really sure. The gentle squeeze of Rinoa's hand and her warm, enlightening smile made him feel as though he could take on the world.

"Yes," he said, "I can handle it."

"Good because if he's still the way he was when you left, then he might need someone to give him a good beating. I'm sure you can take care of that but I'd be more than happy to get in a few hits if you need help."

"I'll keep that in mind."

As they came into Squall's hometown, he and Rinoa looked out the window. It had changed a little but not a whole lot. A few more gas stations had moved in. the brick building he had gone to school in was being reconstructed. None of them had any ideas as to why. Other than that, the town seemed to have remained the same during the years he had been gone. "Do you remember which house it is?" Fujin asked.

"Yeah. I'll recognize it when I see it so keep going."

"This place is smaller than where we live. I didn't think that was possible."

Rinoa said, "My dad told me that there are places with a population under a hundred."

"Wow. I can't imagine living somewhere that small. I'm not going to either. I'm a big city girl. I like places where not many people know you."

"I like small towns. That's why we moved when I was a baby. I think my dad feels out of place though."

"You guys live in that giganto house. That's probably why. If I were your dad, I'd be rubbing it in all the faces of the bastards I went to high school with. But that's just me." Rinoa giggled. "Shit heads," Fujin spat. "I can't wait to knock those idiots off their high horse."

Squall said, "I know I can think of a few people I'd like to do that to. Stop! Right there." The car jerked to a stop by a little white house. From the window, Squall could see that the paint was chipping off. "Come on, Rinoa. Let's go." They walked up the cracked sidewalk to Squall's family's home. Raine was waiting for them so they didn't need to knock.

"Squall," Raine said as she embraced her son, "we've missed you so much. This must be Rinoa. Welcome, dear. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Rinoa said. Squall smiled at her shy disposition. One of the many reasons he loved her.

"Come on in. Your father's inside." They all crammed into the entrance while Raine shut the door. She motioned toward the doorway as she said, "Go in and have a seat." Squall could tell that Rinoa was nervous. He wasn't sure why she'd be nervous; there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. She was perfect. He touched her shoulder and smiled at her when she looked back at him. She became calmer after he took hold of her hand. In the living room they found Laguna sitting in a recliner chair across from the couch. Squall couldn't help noticing how much older his father looked. His eyes looked sullen, his face showed tiredness, and wrinkles had begun to surface. The two sat on the couch, their fingers still interlocked to keep the sense of comfort running between them. Raine stood behind Laguna's chair. "So, honey, how have you been?"

Squall cleared his throat, "These last few years have been pretty good." Rinoa returned his smile, but it quickly faded at the sound of Laguna's scoff. "Got a problem?"

"Nope," Laguna said. "What'd you do? Get her knocked up and now you're trying to make the best of it?" Raine bit her lip but did nothing. It was easy to tell that she was afraid to speak up.

"No. We've been dating for over a year now. She makes me happier than you ever did or will. So shut up."

"It won't last long..."

"Oh how the fuck would you know? You've had an alcohol problem almost all your life." Laguna sipped from a glass that he held over the arm of the chair in his left hand.

"It's hereditary too," he mumbled.

Raine touched her husband's head as she said, "Laguna. Don't. Well, Rinoa, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself."

"I'm not really sure what to say," Rinoa answered nervously.

"Well, who are your parents?"

"Um, my dad's name is Caraway and my mom's name is Julia."

"Caraway?" Laguna said. "You got a good catch, Squall. That's probably the richest family within miles of here." Rinoa bit down on her bottom lip. The hurt look on her face made Squall want to beat his father.

Squall spoke between clenched teeth, "That doesn't matter."

"Might to some people."

"Well not to _me_."

Raine tried to change the subject by saying to Rinoa, "I think I went to school with your mother. She was such a sweet person. You look a lot like her."

"People tell me that all the time," she said. Rinoa mentally noted how much Squall looked like his father. She didn't want to say anything because Laguna might start talking and Squall would probably get mad at her for pointing it out. Laguna got out of his chair and took Squall with him into the other room. Rinoa glanced around the room at the pictures on the wall. A few photos, she could tell, were of little Squall. But there was a girl's baby pictures hanging up as well. She didn't realize Squall had a sister. "Who is that?" she decided to ask.

"Well, that's our daughter Ellone. She's only four. I was going to talk to Squall about that..."

Squall followed his father to the kitchen where they stopped so Laguna could dig around in the fridge. "So, are you going to marry this girl?" Laguna asked while his back was turned.

Squall said, "Planned on it. She's wonderful. I don't care about her parent's money. I don't appreciate you saying that to her."

"_When _are you planning on marrying her?"

"Sometime soon... Why?"

"Rushing it, aren't you? Is there a reason for this?" Squall just sighed. Laguna said, "That's what I thought. You're in the exact same situation I was in. Exact same. Here, relax a little." Squall was handed a glass with the same stuff Laguna had in his own. Squall could only guess what it was.

"I don't want it," Squall said, handing it back.

"One drink isn't going to turn you into me. Okay? So don't give me that shit. Plus you can't legally buy any of it anyway." After letting out a sigh, Squall took a sip. Immediately he handed the glass back to Laguna. Laguna could only laugh, "Just keep it. There's nothing wrong with having one."

"How is mom doing?"

"Fine. She's done with her antidepressants if that what you mean."

"And what about you?"

"I have my days... Not something you can just drop, you know."

Rinoa was left out in the living room with Raine. Neither knew exactly what to say to the other, but they kept a small conversation going. Rinoa was looking at one of Ellone's pictures when Squall came in. "Who is that?" he asked his mother.

"Well," Raine said, glancing at Rinoa then back at Squall, "I got pregnant again while you were away... We thought it'd be nice to have another child."

"You gave up on me?"

"No, no. We never quit hoping you'd come home some day."

"And I suppose 'we' means you."

"No, it doesn't."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"The social worker hasn't contacted us in a long time. It's been years since we last talked to her."

"Did you even _try _to get a hold of her?"

"Of course we did but she never returned our calls. We _do _care about you, Squall. I thought you'd like to have a little brother or sister."

"Well where is she?"

"She's not here. She's at the babysitter's house. The social worker told us not to have her here when you came. I don't know why. She didn't say."

Laguna said, "He can meet her another time. If we're invited that is..."

"Invited to what?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah," Squall said, "you'll be invited."

"To what?"

"That's good," Laguna said. "I'll get to see one of your happiest moments before everything goes to hell."

"Ah fuck you," Squall said automatically. "There is no way in hell I'm turning out like you."

"We'll see. So far you're doing a good job of being like me."

"Damn it, do you always have to pick a fight with me?"

"I'm not picking a fight with you. I just don't want you to be surprised when it all starts to go wrong."

"Most parents try to encourage their kids rather than bring them down."

"You mean they fill their kid's heads with lies. Not much encouragement when they find out that they can't amount to jack shit."

"Just 'cause you may have had a shitty life doesn't mean everyone else did. It was your choice to drink all the time after mom got pregnant! It was your choice to drag everyone down with you! If you didn't decide to drink then I wouldn't have been put in those foster homes and mom wouldn't have been depressed. But I suppose that doesn't matter to you, does it?"

"Well, Squall, you seem to know everything. So what's the point in me even giving an answer, huh? Don't complain to me when you two end in divorce next year."

"Fuck you," Squall spat. He grabbed Rinoa's hand and pulled her out the door. Fujin was waiting for them so they quickly got in. Squall hid his face in his hands. Rinoa touched his shaking shoulder but said nothing. Fujin asked no questions as she took off down the road. She decided to let the two stay at her house for a while before going home to delay the inevitable bombardment of questions. She left them alone in her living room to talk.

"Squall," Rinoa said, "are you okay?"

"I hate him. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him." Rinoa put Squall's head on her shoulder and rubbed her hand down his back. She knew there was nothing that she could be said to comfort him so she just hugged him. Squall said, "Well, one thing's for sure, he definitely isn't coming."

"Coming where? To what?"

"T our wedding. Once I get a ring, I'll ask you properly but..." She threw her arms around his neck, not knowing what to say. Though she knew Squall loved her, she was stunned by what he'd just told her. She began to wonder if her father had made Squall do this. When she asked, Squall said, "No, he didn't force me to or anything. We just might have to do it sooner than I'd hoped is all. Your dad said he'd pay for it too."

"He did? That was nice of him. Well, let's not go too expensive, I don't want to break him."

"No offense but I don't think that's possible. I get what you're saying though. I'm sure your dad wants you to be happy as much as I do." Rinoa and her mother did all the planning, asking for Squall's opinion before deciding on something. Squall and Zell tagged along with Fujin and Rajin the next time they went shopping. Rinoa's father had given Squall more than enough money to buy a ring; he just needed to find the perfect one. He needed a woman's opinion and he got one from Fujin. She was able to find a nice one without spending all the money he was given. That was perfect because he didn't want to spend all that money, not that he wanted Rinoa to have a cheap ring but spending all of that cash would make him feel like a jerk.

They invited all their friends and family. Even Laguna showed up, dressed decently for the occasion. And though Squall was still somewhat angry with his father, he was happy to see him nonetheless. Squall and Quistis were, of course, Rinoa's bride's maids while Zell and Irvine were Squall's best men. Squall had met Irvine only a few days prior but there were several reasons he was up there alongside Zell now. Rajin had said no to Squall's offer of being in Irvine's place. Now despite the way it sounded, Rajin meant no disrespect toward Squall. He wasn't sure if he'd feel all that comfortable standing up there in front of everyone. Squall took no offense to this. He knew both Fujin and Rajin were not very social people and would feel out of place being thrown at the front of something this big. The two did promise to come to the wedding. They kept their promise and sat where they would not be easily noticed. Squall knew that Rinoa was going to have two bride's maids. He also knew that it would look odd to only have one person on his side while his wife-to-be had two. It was around this time that Selphie introduced her boyfriend Irvine Kinneas. Not only did he give a good first impression but also Squall thought it would be perfect to have this man stand opposite of Selphie since he could think of no other. Irvine was honored to do so.

Although he knew there was nothing to worry about, Squall became increasingly nervous with each second that passed. Then he saw Rinoa walking toward him and all his fear seemed to vanish. As the priest began to speak, Fujin whispered, "It's weird watching someone younger than you get married. I almost want to run up there and stop the whole thing."

"They don't have much of a choice, you know," Rajin said.

"I know they don't. But they're so young. It's almost scary. How are they going to make a living? What if that baby doesn't make it? Or what if it does and they can't support it?"

"You ask too many questions, you know. I don't think her father will let them go broke, you know." Fujin only nodded, keeping quiet the rest of the time. Edea sat next to her husband with a blank expression on her face. She had mixed feelings about this as well. Selphie had been discussing this with Edea for some time. She asked Edea what she would do if she were in Rinoa's situation. Edea was unable to give an answer or even a guess. Since she had no personal experience with a problem of this sort, she could not respond. The touch of her husband's hand brought her out of her thoughts. She gave a gentle squeeze back and brought her gaze to the scene at the end of the aisle.

Laguna's arm wrapped around Raine's shoulder and pulled her close. He knew that tears had begun to trickle when he saw her dab at her face with a Kleenex from the corner of his eye. Truth be told, she wasn't quite sure if she was crying out of happiness or for the fact that her son was going to have to become an adult a little too soon. She thought Rinoa was such a sweet girl, the right woman for Squall but they hadn't even finished high school. It seemed they had started down the same path that Laguna and she trudged. She just hoped they would branch off to the green grass instead of sticking to the dirt road.

During the reception, Julia was delighted to play the piano for her daughter when asked. Rinoa begged Squall to dance with her until he finally agreed. Once the song was over, Fujin ran up to Squall. "I want you to meet someone," she said as she dragged him to Rajin and a familiar looking man. The man slicked his hair back with a black-gloved hand. His gray jacket nearly touched the ground. "Squall, this is my friend-"

"Seifer?" Squall said in shock.

"That's right," he said. "Didn't realize this was _your_ wedding. Shit, man. It couldn't wait?"

Fujin hit his shoulder as she said, "Be nice. So you two know each other?"

"We were in the same foster home for a while. How you been doing?"

"Alright. You?" Squall said.

"Been good. Mind if I join the party?"

"Not at all." When Seifer was out of earshot, Squall said, "I didn't know you were friends with him."

"I didn't know you knew each other," Fujin responded.

"How long have you known him?"

"A few years. Rajin introduced me but I don't know how they met."

"As long as he doesn't cause any problems..."

"Don't worry, I'll keep him out of trouble."

Raine carried a child in her arms to Squall. Rinoa recognized the child from the pictures she'd seen. "This is Ellone," Raine said. The shy little girl buried her face in her mother's shoulder. "Oh it's okay. This is your big brother Squall." She tilted her head up a little so she could get a look at him. He gently patted her head, not knowing what else to do or say. Rinoa touched the girl's hand. "She's a little tired."

Rinoa said, "She's so cute."

Raine smiled, "Well, I'm going to have a little talk with your mom."

"I'll come with you." Everyone talked and laughed with each other until people slowly started going back to their homes. Squall hugged Raine and said goodbye to Laguna.

"Visit us once in a while," Raine said. Squall told her that he would. Once everyone had gone, Rinoa's father told them to get in the car. They stopped by their house to pick up the new couple's things before taking off again.

"Welcome to your new house," Caraway said when they stopped. Inside the two-story house, they found new furniture. Rinoa couldn't quit thanking her parents. "We'll talk soon about a job for you, Squall."

Squall said, "Thank you, sir." When her parents left, Rinoa threw her arms around Squall's neck. Months later, she would go into labor earlier than expected. They were scared that the baby wasn't going to make it but somehow she did. Rinoa named her newborn daughter Julie. It wasn't until then that the real trouble began.


	12. Chapter Eleven

To kitty, thanks for your review. I appreciate it a lot. - To RiNoA2oO5, tee hee, your review is funny. Thanks both of you for the nice comments and taking the time to read this story. Remember to check the story information page for when updates will be.

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Zell pressed the plastic phone to his ear and said, "They don't want to see you. Quistis absolutely refuses and Selphie throws a fit at the sound of your name. I don't know what more you want me to do."

"Nothing," Squall said. "No point in pestering them."

"So, um, how are things?" It was easy to see that Zell was nervous. Squall couldn't blame him.

He just shrugged as he said, "I deserve worse."

"I'm sorry, man. But I don't know what to say. I mean… I never expected something like this to happen. How can you live knowing what you did?"

"I can't."

"You know your mom's planning on visiting too."

"Is she? I'd rather she didn't. Not that I don't want to see her but it's bad enough you guys have to see me like this… or even at all. I'm sure it was hard for you to come here." Zell didn't say anything for a few minutes. He wasn't sure what to say. This whole incident forced them all to be aware that life wasn't always fair. It could be harsh and cruel. It could make you miserable. It could also change happy people into sad people. "Zell," Squall finally said. "Do me a favor. Remember that I'd take it all back in a heartbeat if I could. I miss her."

Zell said, "I know." And he did know. It was easy to tell by looking in Squall's eyes. That's where you look when you want to know the truth. You search their eyes and their soul to find out what you're looking for.

Time was up, the guard announced. Squall was handcuffed and escorted back to his cell. It was a lonely little block of concrete. Squall didn't feel he deserved even that. The heartache he felt caused his eyes to sting. He didn't know which punishment would be more suitable for him, life in prison or the death sentence? They almost seemed to be the same thing. For days, the memory of his family and the memory of his actions was mental torment. How many nights did he spend in that cell, silently sobbing? He'd lost count. He felt even worse when his mother came to visit him. Things had been hard on her since his father died and then this happened.

"Squall," Raine said, "How have you been?" He didn't say anything. What exactly could he say to that? He couldn't say 'I'm okay' because not only would he be lying but he'd sound like a heartless jerk. Things weren't good either. He was miserable. "Ellone came with me to see you." His younger sister stood behind Raine's chair. She waved when her name was mentioned. He waved back.

Squall said, "I'm surprised she came."

"You _are _her brother. We still care about you, Squall. None of us knew what to think. I still don't. Ellone seems to be handling it okay though."

"She's tough. She's got a strong mind and a strong heart. Don't let her throw her life away or ruin any good that comes to her." Raine watched his eyes glaze over and it broke her heart. What he'd done was wrong but he was still her son. She had the right to love him. It was easy to see he was suffering greatly for his deeds. He closed his eyes a minute then opened them once he was calm again.

Ellone wanted to talk so she switched places with Raine. She said, "I don't like what you did. If I could change the past I would… But I'm glad that you admitted you did it instead of lying."

"It was kind of obvious it was me," he said. "But I deserve worse than what I'm getting. I'd take it back too if I could." He tried to swallow his tears down. "I miss her so much."


	13. Chapter Twelve

To Everyone: Teehee, some many guesses. Well, you'll just have to read to find out the answers. I'm happy that more and more people are getting into my stories. I've been so busy with school and college courses that I don't have a whole lot of time to update but thanks for staying with me.

Oh yeah, sorry I forgot to mention that all of Rinoa and Squall being in highschool, and from this chapter on is the events leading up to the bad thing that Squall did.

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Rinoa's father gave Squall a job and for the time being, Rinoa stayed at home. She stayed at home to take care of Julie. Her mother made a habit of dropping by twice a week. She showed her how to take care of household chores and the baby. "If you ever need any help at all, call me, honey," Julia said. Rinoa exercised when she could to bring her weight back down until she reached her goal. Selphie and Quistis made a habit of either calling or coming over to update her on what was happening at school. Usually they came together but sometimes they came separately. "So," Selphie said, "how are things going?" She had come with Quistis who was focused on the baby.

Rinoa said, "I can't say things are easy but we're getting along okay, I think. Mom insists on paying for our groceries for a while."

"Oh that's nice. My mom finally got rid of Rick."

"Cool. How'd she do that?"

"Threw his stuff out and changed the locks. She's working on getting a restraining order too. I got a part-time job now so I can help her keep up with the bills and everything."

"You still dating that one guy? Irvine, right?"

"That's right. Yeah I am, infact he was going to take me out on Sunday. You got any plans for the weekend?"

"Not really. Squall will probably be tired from work so I'll probably try to get him to relax a little. Let him get some rest and whatnot. I want to get a job so I can help out too but right now, I can't," Rinoa said. Selphie nodded.

"Can I hold Julie?" Quistis finally asked.

"Sure. You could've asked before. Support her head." Quistis took hold of the baby in her arms like Rinoa told her to. Julie gurgled in her sleep.

"She's so tiny. She's got your face and hair."

"She has Squall's eyes too."

"What does Squall think of her?" Selphie asked.

Rinoa said, "He held her a lot the first two days but since then he's been busy, you know… I feel bad though 'cause my parents insisted on paying for the hospital bill. I know they're just trying to help us but I feel bad taking their money. They ignore my refusals though."

Quistis said, "That's nice of them to help you out,. My dad would disown me if I were in your situation. I'm not sure what my mom would do. I'm sure she'd be mad though. I don't know if they'd help me out or not…"

"My mom wouldn't be able to afford to help me," Selphie said. "I'd probably end up giving it up for adoption. That would be really sad too. I know it's better for a baby to be put up for adoption when you can't take care of it but I'd feel like I was giving up on it if I did that."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"What about you, Quistis? Any boyfriends?" Rinoa asked.

"No. I've looked but they are hardly any guys worth going after."

Selphie said, "There's someone that likes you."

"Yeah but you wont tell me who it is."

"That's right. I promised so I can't."

"Fine then. I don't care anyway."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

Rinoa said, "Don't argue, you guys. Well, Selphie, do we know this person? Is he a friend of ours?"

"Yep and kind of," Selphie said. "But I'm not going to tell you who it is. Not even if we play hangman."

"Hangman? Why would you play that?"

"It's my way of telling people stuff without actually saying anything. If they lose before they figure it out though, then that just sucks for them."

"Oh. Are you guys going to stay 'til Squall comes home?"

"Not today. We'll come by another day and visit with him if that's okay."

"That's fine. It'd probably be for the best. He might not be in the mood to visit anyone today. I can talk to him about it and let you guys know if you like."

"Okay we can do that." Quistis handed Julie back to Rinoa and got ready to leave. The two said their goodbyes to their married friend before walking out the door. Rinoa was left alone agin with a sleeping baby. Squall wouldn't be home for a couple more hours. So she would have to find a way to entertain herself until then. She fixed up a bottle for Julie just in case and started to clean the house. Never in her life had she imagined herself doing housework for a husband when she should still be at school, learning. The thought of going back to finish high school even with a baby had crept in her mind. There was no way she would be able to keep up with homework and a baby though. It'd be too stressful. She didn't want to burden her mother with a baby either. It was Rinoa's responsibility, not her mother's. She wished that Squall could go back to high school too, but they needed the money and he was stressed enough already. She sighed as she washed dishes, trying to concentrate on what she was doing.

Squall got off work around six. He knew that Rinoa was expecting him home but that's not where he was headed. Zell had called him a half hour ago to invite him to go out. They decided to meet at a restraunt in town. Squall wasn't all that that anxious to get home anyway. He wanted to have a peaceful night when they didn't need to get up to tend to a screaming kid. He wanted to be able to spend time with Rinoa and then go to sleep without being interrupted. He missed the nights he had with her. He missed a lot of things.

Zell was waiting at a table when Squall got there. Zell said, "I didn't order anything yet. The waitress should be coming by again pretty soon. Sit down."

Squall took a seat across from Zell. He looked down at the glass of water that was always set out whether you wanted it or not. He took a sip of it but the lack of taste didn't make his dry mouth feel any better. When the waitress came back, Squall ordered a drink right away. He asked for a beer and Zell raised his eyebrows up in surprise. Zell ordered a drink too then the waitress left. She didn't question Squall's age, she just seemed to assume. Squall gulped it down the instant he got it. He felt relaxed once it settled in his stomach.

It was late when Squall arrived home. He fumbled with his keys to open the door. The lights in the living room were out which meant that Rinoa had already gone to bed. The baby was hopefully asleep by now. He locked the front door and quickly trudged upstairs to the bathroom. When he was ready, he crawled into bed next to Rinoa. She rolled over to face him. "Squall," she mumbled, "where have you been? I waited for you."

"Zell invited me to go eat with him," Squall said.

"You should've called. I wouldn't have cared."

"I know. I'm sorry. Next time I'll call, I promise." He kissed her on the cheek. "Is Julie asleep?"

"Yeah she is. She went out fast tonight."

"And she'll be up early in the morning, I'm sure. So what'd you do today?"

"Selphie and Quistis came to visit for a while. Do you want them to come by and see you some time?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"What do you mean 'maybe'?"

"Well, they're more your friends than mine," Squall said. She didn't say anything because she wasn't sure what to say. That was true though. Squall wasn't really close to Selphie or Quistis. He pulled Rinoa close to him and kissed her forehead. She smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder. Both of them fell asleep only to be awakened again by the noise of Julie's crying.

"I'll get her," Rinoa mumbled wearily. She got out of bed and walked over to Julie's crib. She took the upset baby downstairs to fetch her bottle. Squall growled to himself as he rolled over in bed. It's not that he hated his daughter, he just wanted one peaceful night. Ever since she was born he hasn't had a good night's sleep and Rinoa would still refuse his advances even if Julie was sleeping. He was so frustrated with it all. Then there was his lousy job. He assumed that the only reason it was good paying was because his boss was Rinoa's dad. He hated working in that fucking office all day. It was the same thing over and over again: fill out forms for this, that, and the other thing. How could anyone enjoy a job like that?

Rinoa calmed Julie down before going back to bed. Squall's back was turned to her but she knew he wasn't sleeping. She knew that he was mad. "It's okay," she said. "I took care of it."

"When are we going to get some time to ourselves? I want to be able to do things without having to worry about a baby all the time," he said.

"I know. I promise we'll go somewhere together. But I want to get through this first year, okay? Then we can go on a little vacation or something for a few days. I promise. We can go where ever you want to go." She draped her arm over his chest and tried to get back to sleep.

In the morning, Rinoa woke up to an empty bed. Julie was still asleep so Rinoa snuck downstairs. It was a Saturday and Squall didn't usually work then. If he did, he worked late but she didn't remember him telling her that he had to. The house was pretty much empty and there was no note lying around so she figured he went off to do something real quick. She busied herself by making breakfast for Julie as well as herself. The sound of Julie's cry signaled that she was awake. She changed her child's diaper and dressed her before feeding her. "Julie," Rinoa cooed. "Are you awake? Hm?" Julie made a happy squeal for an answer. Rinoa tried to smile despite the tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn't sure why but she suddenly felt very sad. She wished Squall was there to comfort her. She didn't have any idea where he might be.

Fujin opened her door to see Squall standing in the hallway. Her and Rajin shared an apartment to make it easier on the couch watching TV. Fujin told Squall to have a seat. Squall sat down next to Rajin.

"So how have things been?"

"Okay I guess. Could be a lot worse than this. I just get stressed, you know. I can't say it's been easy- not that I expected it to be, but…"

"How is the baby? Julie, right?"

"Yeah. She's fine. She's been healthy if that's what you mean."

"And Rinoa?"

"She's pretty good too. Selphie and Quistis visited her not too long ago. I'm sure that cheered her up. I bet she gets tired of being stuck in the house all day."

"I bet," Fujin said. "We should drop by for a visit some time. We've been busier than hell trying to keep money in our pockets, you know. Hopefully one of us can start college pretty soon. Get a better job and all." Squall nodded. He knew that Rinoa wanted to finish high school and he felt bad for that. He also knew that no matter what he did, he couldn't really make it up to her. "Well," Fujin said, "if you guys need anything at all, let us know."

"We'll be fine," Squall insisted. "No need to worry. I just want a peaceful night to ourselves, you know? Rinoa wont even let me kiss her in front of the kid. It gets irritating after a while."

Rajin said, "She's protecting Julie's fragile little mind, you know? Doesn't want her to see you two like that, you know? Might scar her for life, you know?"

"Kissing her would scar Julie for life? Plus the kid's asleep when I try anything so… I guess it doesn't really matter though."

Fujin asked, "Wont she be turning one this year?"

"Yeah. In about a month she will."

"And Rinoa will be turning eighteen too. That's so weird. No offense to you two or nothing but it is. Then it'll be your turn. What you going to do for Rinoa's birthday? 'Cause if you want, we can take care of Julie for you. It's up to you guys of course."

"I'm not sure what we're going to do yet but I'll keep that in mind. I'll probably take her out to dinner or something. I should pick out a present for her pretty soon. I've been saving up for that and Christmas. Christmas will be impossible…"

Rajin said, "We should have a Christmas party, you know?"

"Yeah," Fujin agreed. "That'd be cool. We could invite all our friends and have a little get together. You could bring Julie if you wanted."

Squall said, "No. When you decide when you're going to have this party and where, let me know. Maybe we can leave Julie with Rinoa's parents. I should get going. I was going to go to Zell's too."

"Well, we'll see you later. I'll probably drop off a present for Julie on her birthday. Is there anything that you guys need for Julie or should I just buy her a toy or something?"

"A toy might be good. Nothing expensive though, okay? I'll see you guys later."

"Bye," Fujin and Rajin said simultaneously. Squall shut the door behind him as he left. He dropped by Zell's house for a few moments. Mrs. Dincht opened the door for him when he arrived.

"Hello, Squall," she said. "How have you been?"

"Fine," Squall responded.

"I suppose you're here for Zell. Come in, come in." She shut the door behind them then called Zell downstairs.

When he came downstairs, he said, "Hey, Squall. What are you doing here?"

"Just came to talk," Squall said. He followed Zell back upstairs to his room.

"What'd you want to talk about?"

"I don't know." He really didn't have anything to say. Last time they saw each other they hardly said anything to one another, even though that was the point of them meeting up. "I was just over at Fujin's house. She was talking about having a Christmas party for all of us. That might be fun. It'd give Rinoa a chance to get out of the house. I'm sure she's tired of being stuck there all day."

"Probably. I would be. Why don't you take her somewhere?"

"Don't know where to take her. She pretty much refuses to go anywhere without Julie. I thought she'd want a break from the kid but apparently she doesn't. Well, she hasn't said anything about it anyway. I guess I shouldn't worry so much."

"Yeah," Zell said. "Have you seen Quistis or Selphie lately?"

"No but Rinoa has. Just yesterday actually."

"Oh. Did they tell Rinoa anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Nevermind, it's not important. How's Julie doing?"

As much as Squall loved his daughter, he got tired of the conversation always shifting to her when people didn't know what to say. He didn't have much to tell them about her so what was the point? He always ended up repeating the same answers over and over again. She wasn't even a year old yet. All she does is cry, eat, and sleep. There wasn't much that he could say. "She's fine," Squall said dryly. He tried to think of a way to change the subject. "How have you been doing? Anything new?"

"Not really," Zell said. "I was thinking about maybe asking Quistis out."

"Really? That's interesting. How long have you been thinking about that?"

"A few days. I talked to Selphie about it. She gave more of a surprised reaction than you did." Zell laughed a little. "I don't know if that'd be a good idea though, you know?"

"I know. Sorry I can't give you any advice though."

"I don't fear rejection or anything like that. I'm just afraid she's going to screw around if she does go out with me."

"Ah."

"Yeah I think you know what I mean. She flirts with everybody all the time. It pisses me off but there's not much I can do about it. I don't know. I might ask her, just to see what she says."

Squall said, "You could try it. She might be different when she's actually dating someone too."

"I hope so."

When Squall finally came back home, Rinoa was trying to get Julie to take a nap. She glared at him anytime he tried to talk to her. He eventually gave up. She wanted to yell at him for just leaving her like that. She needed a break! But, at the same time, she didn't want to start a fight with him. Julie cried as Rinoa rocked her back and forth. It seemed nothing would calm the screaming child and Squall just sat on the bed with his head in his hands.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Forgot to mention that the prologue and chapter 11 is what happened AFTER Squall did whatever he did -. The stuff in-between is the events are everything leading up to Squall getting in jail. Sorry I didn't say that before. The game they play came from a book I read.

Julia made a cake for Julie's birthday. Friends and family met at Rinoa and Squall's home. Julie stared curiously at all the strange people. Various presents were piled up in the corner. "Thanks for the cake, mom," Rinoa said. "You know I suck at baking. Should we light the candles now?"

"Not yet, dear. Give everyone a chance to visit. Why don't you take a break and talk to your friends?" Julia said.

"Okay mom." She walked to the living room where everyone else was gathered. Squall was sitting on the couch with Julie lying against his chest. He had a hold of her so she wouldn't fall. Rinoa sat on the floor in front of him. Fujin thought the little family looked cute together. Quistis and Selphie were playing hangman on a piece of notebook paper.

"What's the question?" Squall asked.

Selphie said, "She's trying to figure out who likes her."

"I know what the answer is."

"Why are there so many letters?"

"I put it into sentence form so it wouldn't be too easy." Quistis began guessing letters and Rinoa watched.

Fujin said, "I saw Seifer a few days ago."

"Really?" Squall said.

"Yeah. He's got a job now I guess. He's got a girlfriend now too. No one we know though. He asked me how you were doing. I told him you guys were getting along pretty well. He said to say 'hi' to you for him."

Squall said, "Well tell him I said 'hi'."

"I will next time I see him."

"She'll probably see him tomorrow, you know?" Rajin said. "She sees him a lot, you know?"

"Not _that _much, jeeze. You make it sound like I sleep over at his house every night or something. Mainly we just talk on the phone." Squall smiled. "What? You don't believe me?"

"I didn't say anything, not a word," Squall said.

"You don't have to. I can tell that you don't."

"Might have a crush on him, you know," Rajin threw in. Fujin growled and Squall laughed.

"He's my _friend_, okay? Can we drop the subject?"

"Yeah, yeah," Squall said. "I should meet with him sometime. It'd actually be nice to talk to him."

"Well, he even admits he's calmed down a great deal. Although he does have his moments… Hey, Squall, are _your_ parents coming over."

"I invited them. Mom said she'd bring Ellone too. She'll be starting school this year. She's excited mom said. She's also excited to see the baby too. Mom let her talk to me on the phone and she kept asking questions about Julie."

"Aw, that's cute. She sounds like a sweet girl."

"Yeah."

"Aha," Selphie suddenly said. "You lose, can't tell you!"

"That's no fair! Do over," Quistis said.

"Nope. That's how the game is played."

"Oh fine! I don't care anyway."

"Yes you do."

"Stop saying that!"

Someone knocked on the door so Rinoa got up to see whom it was. Edea and an older man who was apparently her husband stood there. "Hello," Edea said. "Are we intruding?"

"No, no, come in," Rinoa insisted. They stepped inside and she shut the door. Fujin dragged a few more chairs in for them. "Have a seat, please."

"Thank you for inviting us."

"We thought it'd be a nice time for everyone to get together. We're expecting a few more still. Squall's family is coming and my dad will be a little late. Squall, this is my friend Edea and her husband-"

"Cid."

"Cid."

Squall shook Edea's hand as she said, "Ah, so this is the infamous Squall. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from various people."

"Is that so?" he asked. '_What kinds of things has she heard,_' he wondered. _'And from whom?'_ He shook hands and exchanged a greeting with Cid as well.

"And where is the little one?"

"Right here," Selphie chimed in. Julie was cradled in her arms.

"May I?"

"Of course," Rinoa said.

Edea carefully took Julie in her arms. Julie gazed up at her with a curious expression. "Is she not one of the most beautiful babies you've ever seen?" Edea asked her husband.

Julie turned her head toward the man with the wrinkled but pleasant face as he spoke, "She is." The baby reached her hand toward his small, shiny glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. "Careful." He put the baby back in Rinoa's arms.

Selphie said, "So, Edea, what have you been up to? How have you been?"

"Things have been pretty good," she answered. "I've been up to the same old things, nothing new, actually. What about all of you? I haven't seem some of you in a long time."

"I've been pretty good. Still dating Irvine too. He'll be coming by after work, by the way."

Quistis said, "I don't believe we've met, Edea."

"Not formally," Edea said. "But I have hear of you. I believe your friends have dropped your name a few times."

"I hope it wasn't anything bad…"

"Oh no, nothing bad at all. No need to worry. But how has life been treating you?"

"Okay but I'm frustrated with Selphie. She won't tell me who supposedly likes me."

"Maybe she doesn't want to embarrass this person. He should speak up himself. He won't be disappointed." Squall could see Zell tense up a little. "Just be patient, Mrs. Trepe. You'll find out sometime soon."

"Okay."

"Well," Rinoa said, "I don't think you've met many of the people here and they haven't met you." As she said each name, she pointed each person out, "This is Zell, Fujin, Rajin, and my mom is back there. Until Irvine, my dad, and Squall's parents show up, that's everyone."

"Nice to meet you all," Edea said. They all carried on a conversation and soon were joined by Julia. Less than fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang again. Rinoa opened it up. Laguna brushed past her and Raine came in with Ellone following her. Fujin grabbed some more chairs. Ellone hid behind her mother.

"Do you want to see the baby?" Rinoa asked the little girl gently. She nodded with shy enthusiasm. Rinoa took Julie and held her so Ellone could see her. Both of them looked at each other curiously. Ellone carefully patted the baby's head. "If you sit on the couch you can hold her." Fujin willingly gave her seat up to the six year old. "There we go," Rinoa said as she carefully set Julie in the child's arms. Ellone kept saying, "Pretty baby" softly over and over again. Squall pulled Rinoa down onto his lap. Her face turned slight shade of pink and then became even darker when he kissed her on the cheek.

"Aww," Selphie laughed. "How cute."

Julia said, "Well, is everybody ready? Let's see the birthday girl!" Rinoa set Julie down in her highchair at the end of the table. Julia put the cake with one bright candle down on the table. "Wait a minute, Rinoa. I want to get my camera." She dug through her purse as everyone else gathered around. Julie seemed to be entranced by the flame of the lonely candle. Julia quickly snapped a picture then said, "Okay." Starting with Ellone they all sang 'Happy Birthday' to the now one-year-old baby. When the song was over they clapped.

"Can you blow out the candle, sweetheart?" Rinoa asked, but the baby wasn't looking at her. "Ellone, would you like to do it for her?" Raine put Ellone down so she could go over by Rinoa. Rinoa lifted her up to the cake. When the flame disappeared, Julie's curious expression changed. Her bottom lip curled out, her eyes turned sad, and she began to cry. The girls made a sympathetic sound. Squall took the upset baby in his arms and tried to calm her down. Julia started cutting the cake. "Is she okay?" Rinoa asked Squall.

"She's fine," he said. "She'll probably be even better when she eats the frosting." Rinoa giggled which made him smile. Raine gave Ellone a piece of the cake then came over to Squall.

"She looks like you," she said to Rinoa.

Julia called back, "You should compare baby pictures. The resemblance is unbelievable. Rinoa, dear, could you get the door for your father, I think I heard his car pull up." Rinoa did as she was told. Her father hugged her when he came in. That surprised her because he hardly ever did that. He then joined his wife in the kitchen. Rinoa noticed that Laguna was still sitting on the couch and walked over to him.

"Are okay?" she asked him. He mumbled something she couldn't hear. "What? I- I didn't hear you."

He grabbed her wrist and repeated himself, "I said, 'leave me the fuck alone'."

She swallowed her fear but her voice was shaking. He still had a hold of her wrist. "You've been drinking before you came here, haven't you? I think that maybe- … maybe you should leave." Squall looked over in their direction. He handed Julie over to Fujin. Laguna pushed Rinoa away from him.

"Dad," Squall barked, "I think you should leave."

"I'm not going anywhere," he mumbled.

"Get out! Now! I'm sick of you fucking everything up! _Get out_!"

"Fine. Don't know why I'd come to a… fucking worthless son's house anyway. Stupid, fucking useless," he kept repeating as he left. The house was silent now. Both Raine and Squall were embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," Raine said. "I'm really, very sorry."

"It's not your fault. Would you like a ride home tonight?" Julia said.

"I don't want to trouble anyone."

"It's no problem, really."

"That'd be nice."

Squall followed Rinoa up to their room. She had a red ring on her skin from Laguna gripping her wrist. She sat on the bed and let out a sigh. Squall sat next to her. "You going to be okay?" he asked her. She just nodded. He kissed her forehead to comfort her. "I love you."

"Love you too," she said as she put her arms around his neck.

"Do you want to stay up here for a while?"

"Sure. I'll come down in a little bit. I'm sorry, Squall."

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. It'd my fucking dad's fault. It's my fault. I know I shouldn't have invited him. Bastard. He's never coming here again… Well, anyway, you stay here and when you feel better you can come back down." She didn't go back downstairs though. She just didn't feel up to it.

The next time they will saw each other was at Fujin's Christmas party. Technically it was Quistis's party because it was at her house. Rinoa left Julie with her mom for the day. Squall was happy to have a break from the kid. She was spending the night at Rinoa's parents house until tomorrow in the afternoon. Rinoa and Squall were the first ones there. Quistis hugged them both in a friendly manner. "Sorry we didn't bring anything," Rinoa said.

Quistis said, "No, no. It's okay. You weren't supposed to bring anything. How are you doing?"

"Good. How about you?"

"Good, really good. Except Selphie _still_ wont tell me who likes me. I know Edea said to be patient but I can't honestly say I'm a patient person."

"I'm sure you'll find out soon."

"I hope so. I mean, I want to find out who it is but at the same time, I don't. You know what I mean?" Rinoa nodded. "I'm kind of afraid it'll turn out to be some retard that I hate. Anyway, I'll quit complaining now."

"When is everyone else coming?" Squall asked.

"Whenever they get here. I didn't set a specific time but my guess is that they will be coming soon. Shouldn't take too long for Zell and Selphie to get here." It only took them a half hour to arrive. Selphie showed up first with Irvine.

"Sorry," Selphie said. "Mom made me eat something before I left. Then I waited for one of my mom's friends to come over and stay with her. She's still kind of afraid that Rick will come back. I don't blame her. I get scared sometimes too."

"If you ever need anything, let me know," Rinoa said.

"No, no, we're fine but thank you."

"Well keep that in mind. Just incase." Zell came only a few minutes after Selphie arrived. He greeted Squall with a handshake and Quistis with a hug. For the other two he simply said, "Hello." While they waited for Fujin and Rajin to show up, Quistis asked them if they wanted to play a game.

"What kind of game?" Selphie asked.

Quistis shrugged and said, "What kind of game do you want to play? It doesn't matter to me."

"Do you have anything to drink?" Squall asked. "Sorry but I'm really thirsty."

"No it's okay. Help yourself." Zell followed him to the kitchen.

Zell said, "You see anything good? Wait. How 'bout this?" He grabbed a bottle from the back of the fridge. "Hm, white wine. This stuff is good. I wonder if it's okay to have some."

Squall said, "Oh, well I don't-"

"Hey Quistis? Can we have a little bit of the white wine that's in here?"

"Sure," she said. "Not too much. I bought it so everyone could have a little. Make sure there's enough for later."

"We wont have that much." Zell took down two cups from the cupboard.

"Only a tiny bit for me please," Squall said. Zell only poured enough in to cover the bottom of the glass. "Thank you." He drank it quickly so the taste wouldn't linger in his mouth. If it did, he was afraid he might want more of it. He set the glass down and went back to the living room where the others were. He walked up behind Rinoa and put his arms around her. She leaned her head back against his neck. Selphie and Quistis were discussing an incident that occurred in gym class.

Irvine said, "So, Squall have you heard from either of your parents since Julie's birthday party?"

"My mom calls once a month but other than that no. I prefer not to see my dad anyway. He's a selfish bastard among other things. How are things going for you?"

"Good." His voice got lower and Squall had to lean in to hear. "I have a surprise planned for Selphie. Getting it all together was tough. Cost me quite a bit of money. Don't mention any of that to her."

Squall nodded then said, "Do you know about the situation with her mom?"

"Yeah. She asked me to stay with them a while. My parents are trying to think of another way to deal with it. I'm more than willing to go but my parents…"

"I get what they're doing though. They're just worried about your safety is all."

"Yeah I know." Fujin and Rajin arrived a little later.

Quistis said, "Is everybody here now? Good. Well, should we sit around and talk for a while then play a game? Or play a game first then talk?"

"Game," Fujin sang humorously.

"I have the perfect game. It's just for fun and we're not going to play it for too long so no one freak out." She walked into the kitchen and came back with enough shot glasses for everyone.

"Holy shit. Drink much?"

"They're not mine! They belong to my parents." She went back again coming back this time with the wine bottle from the fridge. "We're going to play the drinking game." Rinoa bit her lip when this was said. "And this is how you play," Quistis continued, "one person will tell us two different stories. One will be a lie and one will be the truth. Everyone has to guess which one is the lie. Anyone who gets it wrong will have to take a shot. We'll probably just go around the circle once then stop so don't expect to get wasted. No one's going to be puking on my carpet." Rinoa and Squall were the only ones that didn't even crack a smile. "Who'd like to go first or should I?"

"I'll do it," Selphie volunteered.

"Okay. Do you need a moment?"

"Nah I think I got it. First one, my mom is thinking about going to college to get a better job. Second thing, I'll be going to college after I graduate."

"I'm going to guess the first one is false."

Zell, who was sitting next to Quistis, said, "The first one."

"First one," Rinoa and Squall both agreed.

"I'll go with the second statement," Irvine said.

"Whatever Rajin says is my answer too," Fujin said.

Rajin waited a moment before answering, "I'm guessing the second one too, you know?"

"Second one's fake," Selphie finally told everyone. "Quistis, Zell, Squall, and Rinoa have to take a shot."

"That was fake?" Rinoa asked as Quistis poured the drinks.

"Yeah. I'm not going right away. I'm going to wait a few years, save up some money. Mom's thinking about going though. She hasn't made a decision yet."

"I don't want to take a shot."

Quistis handed the tiny glass to Rinoa as she said, "It isn't that bad. A little bit won't kill you." Rinoa sighed and took the glass. After she gulped the liquid down, her tongue came out in disgust of its taste. No one else seemed bothered by it (with the exception of those that didn't have any). "My turn," Quistis said. "Okay, number one: I'm still a virgin. And my dad is going to take my family on a trip to Europe."

Fujin said, "Okay before I guess, I have to ask a question. What do you mean by 'my family' exactly?"

"My family meaning the people that live in our house. No tricks here, I promise."

Squall went ahead and said, "I'm going to say the first one is false."

Rajin answered next, "The second one, you know?"

"I'm going with his answer," Fujin responded.

"First one," Irvine said.

"Second one," Zell said.

Selphie sighed, "First one."

Rinoa threw in, "Second one's false."

"Glad so many of you have faith in me," Quistis said sarcastically. "Squall, Irvine, and Selphie take a drink."

"Hmm," Zell though out loud as the three downed their drinks. By the time everyone was ready, so was he. "I have good ones. Here we go. My real mom died from cancer or I was contacted by a sibling from that family."

"That _is_ tough. I don't know much about you," Selphie admitted.

"I'll take a guess," Squall volunteered. "I'm guessing the second one is false."

"I'll go with that too."

Rajin said, "The second one, you know?"

Fujin agreed, "I'll go with his answer."

"Okay, you have to choose some answers for yourself," Quistis told her. "Anyway, I pick umm… The… first one's false… Yeah."

"I'm picking the… first one," Irvine said.

"Same here," Rinoa added.

"Okay," Zell said. "The first one's false. Rinoa, Quistis, and Irvine _don't_ have to take a shot." While the drinks were being poured he told them, "I don't know if my mom's alive or not but apparently I have an older sister. She called me last week. She's going to call me again to set up a day we can get together."

"That's nice. I'm happy for you, Zell."

"Thanks."

Quistis said, "It's your turn, Rinoa."

"Oh no. I think I'll pass," she answered automatically.

"Nope you have to do _something_. Everyone gets a turn."

"Well don't force her," Fujin said. "It's no fun when you make people play. Maybe she can't think of a good one."

"I, uh, have one but I'm afraid to say it," Rinoa told her.

"Okay. Let's move onto Squall then." Concerned brown eyes scan Rinoa's face to see what's wrong. An unconvincing smile spreads across her face to tell Selphie that everything is okay. Selphie's head cocks to the side in question. A sigh escapes Rinoa's lips because she knows she can't fool her friend.

"Here we go," Squall said, interrupting their silent communication as he rubbed his hands together. "First one, I was thinking about having another kid or my dad put me in the trunk of his car once."

"First one," Zell and Rinoa said simultaneously.

"Second's the lie," Quistis said. "I don't buy that." Fujin agreed with her.

Selphie said, "I'm following Rinoa on this one."

"First one," Rajin said, "Can't imagine you wanting another kid, you know?"

Irvine said, "First one."

"Quistis and Fujin take a shot," Squall told them. "I thought that one would be easy…"

"It's my turn now isn't it? Give me a minute to think. Shouldn't be too hard to fool you guys since you don't know me very well." After a moment of thinking Irvine continued, "Number one, my parents have been divorced and remarried to each other more than twice… Number two, their first divorce was because the second child they were expecting was stillborn."

"This one's hard," Quistis said.

"No kidding," Fujin agreed. "Good job stumping us. Hmm…"

Rinoa said, "I'm going to guess that number… one is false."

"I'll go with that."

"Me too," Quistis said.

Zell replied, "Not me, I'm guessing the second one. Doesn't seem like something you'd get divorced over."

"I can think of a few people who'd do that, you know?" Rajin said. "First one's false, you know?"

"I'll go with his answer," Squall said automatically.

Selphie said, "The second is false."

"Everyone but Selphie and Zell take a shot," Irvine told them. "Made that one hard didn't I? Number two is false because that was why they got their second divorce, not their first."

"How many times have they been divorced?"

"Three or four."

"That has to suck," Rinoa commented.

"Got used to it and started expecting it after a while actually."

"Ugh, this stuff is gross. Are we almost done with this game?"

"Yeah," Fujin said. "It's my turn now." She rubbed her hands together before getting started. "Number one, my dad has been trying to contact me. Number two, my mom is going to get remarried."

"Hmm… Second one's false," Quistis guessed.

"Second," Squall said.

Rajin said, "Number two, you know?" Zell went along with that answer too.

"I'm going to be different and say number one is false," Selphie said.

"I'll follow Selphie," Irvine said.

"Not me," Rinoa said. "I'm going to go with Rajin on this. Number two is false."

Fujin said, "Selphie and Irvine, you know what to do. It's Rajin's turn now."

"I want to pass, you know? Can't think of a good one, you know?" Rajin said.

Quistis gave in, "Okay fine. We can split the rest of the bottle. Who wants some?" Rinoa and Selphie were the only ones who didn't want any. They strayed off into another room.

"So," Selphie started in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know exactly. Things just feel like they're going to get bad," Rinoa told her friend.

"What'd you do for your birthday?"

"Nothing yet. He was going to take me somewhere after Christmas. We've been low on money. He wants to pay for it himself instead of taking money from my parents. I'm proud of him for that though." A slight smile crawled across Rinoa's face. It disappeared as quickly as it came however.

"If you ever need anything, tell me. Okay? I'd be more than happy to help you out." The two girls embraced one another before rejoining the others. No one but Selphie seemed to notice the lack of participation from Rinoa with everyone else. She had her gaze focused on Squall. He seemed more bubbly than usual. Selphie assumed that was from all the alcohol he had (although she didn't really know how much he had). Rinoa turned the wedding ring around her finger as she watched everyone.

Quistis said after a while, "We have something for you, Rinoa. Here. Hope you like it." A small box was put in Rinoa's hands. It was tied up with a red ribbon, which made it look sort of fancy. In the box, neatly laid out, was a silver locket. The design inscribed on it was of an angel. "Open it up." Carefully as not to break it, Rinoa opened it up to see two pictures already inside: one of her friends and the other of Squall holding Julie.

"Thanks," Rinoa said. "It's beautiful. You guys didn't have to get me anything."

"We wanted to," Quistis told her. Rinoa made sure to hug everyone before they left.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Squall doesn't get in jail quite yet. I'm still leading up to it. There will be more Squall and Rinoa bits but … well… you'll see.

Rinoa hardly ever took her necklace off. The only time it didn't hang around her neck was when she was afraid it might be broken while she was sleeping. For Christmas they had a small tree but it was for the best. It was a mini tree, small enough to sit on a countertop. Anytime Julie was close to it she would make a grab for the lights. "No, no," Rinoa said. "Don't touch those, dear." Not many presents were under the tree but it was enough to make the holiday meaningful. All the presents except two were for Julie.

Squall said, "Are you ready?" His young wife nodded and sat down on the living room floor with Julie in her lap. The three of them were dressed for bed. Zip up purple pajamas kept Julie warm enough. Rinoa was a little chilly in her long t-shirt and shorts but she didn't seem to mind. The thought of being held under the blankets kept her cheerful. "What should we start with?"

"Start with Julie's presents first," Rinoa said.

"Alright." The box wrapped in red paper covered in pictures of Santa Clause about the size of a shoebox though not as thick was the first to be set down in front of the one-year-old. It struck Squall as odd that something as meaningless as wrapping paper could entertain a child so. His daughter's eyes danced with wonder at the sight of this brightly colored object. Rinoa tore a small piece to get the girl started. Tiny hands clenched the thin sheet but did not tear it down. She had to have help. Once a small piece of it was in her hands, she tried to put the paper in her mouth.

"No, no, honey," Rinoa said as she took it from her. "Don't eat that. Here." She finished tearing the wrapping paper off and began opening up the box, amused noises came out of Julie's throat as she played with the wrapping paper. Inside the cardboard square was a tiny dress. It puffed out at the sleeves and had white lace bordering the neckline. "Look at this." She put it on the floor by Julie. After staring at it for a moment, Julie picked it up and held it in her hand as she babbled.

"I'm surprised she even picked it up," Squall told her.

"No kidding." Wrapping paper was torn, boxes were opened up, and numerous new toys and outfits for Julie were unveiled. One of the presents, a toy phone that made noise, made Julie laugh as though she were being tickled to death. "She likes that. Here, Squall. If you don't like it, we can take it back and you can get something else." Squall took the box. It was heavy and about half his height. It had to be put down on the floor so he could open it up without dropping it. Inside the box was a long sword. This one was shaped different than regular swords. The end of it was almost like a hook and the handle was in the shape of a gun's handle. Inscribed on the blade was a picture of a lion.

"Where did you find this?" he asked.

"I didn't. Fujin did. She was helping me pick out something for you and she saw it. Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding? Of course." He bent down and kissed her. "Makes my present seem like nothing."

"I'm sure it's fine. Make sure you put that where Julie can't get a hold of it."

"I will. Merry Christmas, Rinoa." He gave her a small box that was obviously a jewelry box. She took the paper off and opened the velvet container. Inside it was a silver ring. The blue diamond was in the shape of a teardrop. On the inside of the band was, "To a beloved wife and mother: Rinoa" inscribed. It fit perfectly on her middle finger next to her wedding ring.

"Thank you, Squall," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck but not before she kissed him.

Squall leaned back and said, "We're going to your parents' house tomorrow right?"

"Yes. Mom told me that your mom dropped presents at their house for us. I don't know who exactly sent anything but that's what she told me. Did you send presents to them?"

"To everyone but Laguna." Recently Squall had taken up the habit of calling Laguna by his first name instead of "dad". The reason why was obvious enough, no one had to ask. Though there was nothing that anyone besides the two of them could do about it, Rinoa still felt guilty about it. She felt helpless watching the two argue with each other. Interfering would only make it worse, she knew. After cleaning up the garbage, they all went to bed. Julie fell asleep right away. Rinoa lay close to Squall so she could get warm. She was out well before he was. The clock turned the time to midnight before sleep finally found him.

In the morning, Rinoa was awakened by Julie's crying. Quickly she worked to get the child to quiet down so Squall would not get up. It would be bad to have him crabby today. She didn't want any incidents to spring up at her parents' house. Julie wasn't taken out of her pajamas right away. They weren't expected to show up until lunchtime rolled around. To start the day off, Rinoa made breakfast while she balanced her daughter on her hip.

Julie was sitting in her highchair, eating eggs with her hands when Squall came downstairs. A fork was by the plate, clean and untouched. It was a mystery to him why Rinoa bothered to give the kid any silverware. Not only does she not know how to use it but also she could hurt herself with it if she wasn't careful. "Eat something," Rinoa said after she swallowed what she was eating.

"I'm not hungry," he told her. Metal clanked against glass, the sound of a fork dropping on a plate. He escaped to the bathroom before he could be questioned. Rinoa hoped the day would turn out better than it started.

Over at Rinoa's parents' house, Julie was preparing food for dinner. Caraway was up in his office, doing God only knows what. His wife assumed he was working. He was always working. It's surprisingly hard for him to get any time off. The last time they tried to go on a vacation (she couldn't remember how long ago that was but it was a long time ago), he got so many business calls that they ended up just going back home. But God knows he tries. He surprises her every now and then with gifts she's grateful for but doesn't really need. When the doorbell rings, Julia swears under her breath then yells, "Coming!" Of course it is her daughter and the family at the door. "You could've just come in, dear. This used to be your home, you know." Rinoa returned her mother's smile.

Rinoa said, "Do you need help with anything?"

"I can handle it but if you'd like to help, you can." Rinoa handed Julie over to Squall then followed her mother to the kitchen. Not sure what else to do, Squall sat on the couch with his daughter.

"How has everything been?" Julia asked her daughter. "Everything going well?"

Rinoa said, "Yeah. We're doing fine. Look at what Squall gave me." She held out her hand, palm down, fingers spread so her mother could see the ring. "And my friends bought this locket for me. Isn't it cute? Look at the pictures inside."

"Beautiful. I hope you thanked everyone."

"Of course I did. …Uh, mom? Did Laguna send anything to Squall? Any presents?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Good," Rinoa said with a sigh of relief.

"Why is that good?"

"I don't know… Guess I just figured if he sent _anything_ it'd be something mean- some sort of cruel joke. I don't want Squall to get upset… or mad."

"Well you got nothing to worry about, dear."

Julie's head bobbed around as she tried to steady herself. Squall had a hold of her to make sure she didn't fall over. She was trying to stand up by herself. An odd noise came out of her mouth that sounded happy. The look on her face made it obvious that she was pleased, she had accomplished her goal. Incessant babble was all the noise she made after that. The indecipherable words meant nothing to Squall but he wondered if they meant anything to her. When she grew up would she remember the little moments like these? Would she remember something as important as her first birthday? It was doubtful. After all, who really did? Squall, for example, had only a few memories of his infant years. But of what he could remember, life was basically nothing. There were no joys (except for the occasional toy now and then), no triumphs. Then again what was there to accomplish? He wasn't even sure why he was thinking about it at all.

Rinoa came in and sat down next to her husband. "She's trying to stand up by herself," he told her. "She's not doing too bad… except I'm holding her of course."

"Rinoa," Julia said as she came in. "Go and get your father, dear." Obeying her mother's request, Rinoa ran upstairs. The room fell silent once the sound of her footsteps faded. Julia leaned against the doorway with one hand on her hip. "How have you been, Squall? Been taking care of everyone?"

"Yeah."

"If you need anything you make sure and let us know."

"We've been doing a lot better. Thanks for the help. I'm going to take Rinoa on a little vacation for a while. She needs a break."

"Yes. I'm sure you do too. You work a lot. The both of you need a break, not just Rinoa."

Caraway was finishing signing a few letters while his daughter waited for him. Silence hung in the air around them. Neither of them really knew what to say to the other. Like a stereotypical teenage, Rinoa didn't talk to her dad a whole lot. Not about personal things anyway. As much as she would've liked to ask him what exactly he thought of Squall, she couldn't do so. It was hard to tell whether she was afraid of what his answer might be or if she was just too embarrassed to ask. The uncomfortable quiet was broken by Caraway's voice saying, "Is that boy treating you well?"

"Of course, daddy," she answered.

"He better not be misusing that money we've been giving you. That's for you and Julie."

"He's not, daddy. You don't trust him."

Caraway sighed as he leaned back in his chair, "Well, sometimes when people get married young, bad things happen. Now I'm not saying anything is going to happen but if it does, you better let me and your mother know."

"I will, daddy. You got nothing to worry about. We're doing fine. I know Squall's a little tired of working so much but once Julie's old enough for me to get a job, he can have a bit of a break. Besides, we're going for a little vacation over the weekend. He ought to feel better after that."

Everyone was quiet when the two finally came downstairs. Rinoa set up a highchair for Julie at the corner of the table then helped her mother set everything out. Once Julie was securely in her seat, Squall sat down himself. It was uncomfortable for him to sit next to Caraway. Though honorable indeed, it seemed to Squall that Rinoa's father could break a man with words alone. It was unimaginable how it'd feel to get in trouble with a man like him, especially as his child. Would the kid be left cut up and bleeding tears or would they see a hint of mercy from him? Getting in trouble with Laguna wasn't fun. But most of the time he was too drunk to remember what the punishment had been.

All of them remain silent as they eat, with the exception of Julie's gurgling and senseless babble. Now and then someone would spit up a question that someone else must answer. Once in a while, Squall was the one who played the role of the recipient while Julia was the questionnaire. Caraway was the one who remained unquestioned and unquestioning. Unwillingness kept his tongue still.

Rinoa helped her mother clear everything off and put it all away after everyone was done eating. Julia said to her daughter, "If you want any of the leftovers to take home, feel free to help yourself."

"Thanks, mom," Rinoa said.

"Ready to open the presents now?"

"Yeah, sure." Squall was already sitting on the couch with Julie when they came in the living room. Caraway was sitting in an isolated chair in the room. Presents were handed around to the designated people. "I'm sorry we only have one for you 'cause we got it for you together. Hope you like it."

"Quantity doesn't matter, dear. It is the thought."

"I know, mom." There was a present for Squall, Rinoa, and Julie- separate presents- from each Raine and Ellone. For Squall, the present was pictures of his little sister. Not cheap school pictures, nice ones. Like the ones Rinoa just handed to her parents of Julie. For Rinoa, it was a ring. The band of the ring was thick. She figured it must've been three times the size of her wedding ring. Diamonds surrounded by beads lined the center of the band. Just looking at it made her feel guilty. It must have cost a lot of money, she figured. A few toys were given to Julie.

"Oh wait," Julia said. "There's one more thing for you. Here." She handed them an envelope, another present from Raine but Raine alone. Inside it was money, fifty dollars. Squall wanted to send it back. He knew they were having worse money problems than Squall and Rinoa were. Even though it wasn't a whole lot, it was still a generous gift.

The present from Rinoa's parents to Julie was a stuffed animal, particularly a bear. Although seemingly plain because the only decorative thing on its white fur was a red ribbon around its neck, its simplicity made it all the lovelier. It was only slightly smaller than the one-year-old. Immediately she was attracted to its shiny black eyes. For Rinoa and Squall, the present was money. "Use it to buy something nice for yourselves for once," Julia said.

"Thanks, mom," Rinoa said. "But we've taken enough of your money already."

"I know, dear. That was to help you with bills and groceries though. Buy something nice for yourselves that you want. Okay?"

"Okay." They were persuaded to take leftovers home before they left. Julie fell asleep quickly that night, as did Rinoa. Squall was once again alone in the dark.

That weekend, Julie was left with Rinoa's parents while her own took their vacation. They didn't go very far, only down to the cities, about an hour and a half away. Rinoa watched all the lit buildings pass by her window. She hadn't been to the city much, only a few times. The lights at night were her favorite things about it. The traffic was something everyone could do without. From the outside, the only thing Rinoa could tell about the hotel was that it was gigantic. "How much did this cost us?" Rinoa asked Squall as they walked up to the entrance.

He simply said, "Enough." With Rinoa's arm hooked in his, they carried their bags inside. Rinoa was so impressed by the receptionists' room that she couldn't imagine what the bedrooms must have looked like. The white marbled tiles, the angel fountain in the center, the marbled white walls, and the diamond chandeliers overhead made her feel as though she were in a castle from a fairytale. The two white carpeted, light wood staircases lead up to the balcony walkway, which was the way to the hotel rooms. From the overlook on the second floor, Rinoa could see the place better. Beyond the entrance where the five smiling receptionists sat, was a set of glass doors leading to a dining room. Chandeliers hung over the fancy light wood tables, various paintings (very sophisticated looking ones) hung on the walls, and all the people were dressed up in their best.

"Look at that," she said lightly tugging on his arm.

He stole a glance then said, "Yep."

"You didn't even look."

"I'll see it later, okay."

"Fine." She followed him down the end of the hall to an elevator. Everything so far was colored in white and gold. "How far up are we?"

"Fourth floor," he told her. "Not quite the top."

"Nice view from the window?"

"Oh I'm sure." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Their stomachs felt as though they had turned upside down in their bodies when the elevator stopped. The doors opened at the sound of the bell. "Look for number 406."

"Shouldn't be that far down."

"Nope. It's right here." Across the hall, a few doors down was their assigned room. Once unlocked, the door pushed open easily. Although white and gold were still the themed colors, the space was enjoyable. Rinoa guessed it was two times the size of regular hotel rooms. She opened the curtains and looked down at the city below. It felt to her as though they were thousands of miles up but this feeling was over exaggerated (and she knew it of course). It was possible that her excitement contributed to her irrational thinking, which was understandable.

"It's beautiful," Rinoa remarked without taking her eyes off the scene below. Squall wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. He planted a light kiss on the side of her neck. "I love you, Squall."

"Love you too, Rinoa. What do you want to do today? Isn't it nice? We actually have time to ourselves for once. I love Julie but sometimes…"

"I know. I promise we can take a break once in a while. I just wanted to get through the first year with her without anything interrupting. You know?"

"Yes, I know." She turned around to face him without breaking the embrace. Her lips brushed against his but only for a brief second.

"Let's stay up here and we can explore tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course… How come you want to stay up here? Do you have a plan or something?" A smile appeared on his face and made her laugh. "And how do you suppose I guessed that?"

"I have no idea." They stayed awake most of the night, playfully picking on each other among other things. In the morning, Squall woke up to Rinoa's beautiful face hovering over him and the tips of her hair brushing against his skin. She was sitting on him.

"Good morning," she said. "What should we do today?"

He said, "How about we eat breakfast."

"I mean besides that."

"One thing at a time, don't overwhelm yourself."

She laughed, "You're such a jerk."

"I try."

"Oh shut up."

"I'll shut up if you let me get up."

"Fine, ruin my fun." They smiled at each other and Squall got up to get dressed. This was how he'd pictured things. He figured (or was hoped the better word) that he would marry her. He'd hoped they would have a child (or two) but not as fast as it came. Now, the loving playful way she was acting, was so different than how she'd been acting a few days ago. _This_ was how he wanted it to go. But the difficulties of life hit them in the face hard. Then again, if they could continue to climb out of the pit that their downfall had left them in, maybe things would go the way he'd hoped it would- if they could get out of course.

Once the two were dressed, they went down to the first floor. In the dining room they were given a place to sit by the window. Rinoa's eyes fell unto the busy street just beyond the sheet of glass. "It looks beautiful at night," she told Squall. He himself wasn't very familiar with the city life but he found it odd that he was not the least bit curious about it. Quite the opposite was Rinoa's thoughts concerning it all. When she saw someone pass by the window on the sidewalk, she wondered about his or her lives. Why had that particular person come here? Had they been born here? Was he or she in a relationship? Did they enjoy their job? All were questions she found herself making up the answers to.

They both ordered something cheap for fear of spending all their money. The meal was quite enjoyable nonetheless. The two then decided to go outside. "I wonder how much a cab costs," Squall said more to himself than Rinoa.

She answered though, saying, "Let's walk. We can just wander around and that way it wont cost us anything. Plus, we can look around a lot easier than having a cab stop everywhere."

"Okay." Their hands clasped together as they began to make the walk down the gray concrete path. Stores of different themes containing different objects beckoned them silently to come in. But the tempting places did not affect them. They only stopped at places that held things of their interest. Rinoa ended up buying a few presents for Julie. Squall told her to buy something for herself too.

"I will. I just haven't found anything yet. That's all." She though about buying an outfit for herself that might appeal to Squall but decided against it. She wasn't exactly sure why she chose not to. Perhaps it was because she blushed just at the thought of it. A very shy type she was indeed. Instead, she ended up buying a few tank tops and a few skirts. Once the clothes were paid for, Rinoa decided to wear one of the outfits.

Squall commented, "Looks good. You look nice. But you'd look good in anything."

"That's sweet but you're lying. You're such a sweetheart though. That's why I love you. No one could be luckier than me."

"Ah I'm no prize. You could do a lot better. _I'm _lucky_ you_ picked _me_."

"We could probably argue about this all day if we wanted. How 'bout we shut up now?"

"Okay." He picked her up and swung her around.

"You know," she said. "I was going to buy something else but I decided not to. It's indirectly for you. Too bad I changed my mind."

"What was it?"

"Guess you'll never know." The two ate lunch at restaurant they came across on the way back to the hotel. It was a cheaper place but not necessarily fast food. They wanted to save most of their money for dinner. Rinoa kicked Squall under the table.

"Why'd you do that?"

"I felt like it. I'm thinking about getting a job once Julie starts school. I know that's a long ways away but still. I don't want to watch you all do the work and I don't want to take my parents' money all the time. You've heard that a thousand times and I'm sorry. But I _do_ want to help."

"Well, since there isn't much we can do about it right now, don't worry. If you want to get a job later, that's fine. But let's not think about it now, okay." She nods slightly. They ordered the food that they wanted and began to eat when it arrived. After they were finished with lunch, the two wandered around aimlessly until they got lost. At that point they had to get a cab in order to get back to the hotel. They spent the rest of the night in their room.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

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When Julie turned three, Ellone started coming over to play with her quite frequently during the weekdays of the summer while Squall was at work. "I hope you don't mind," Raine always said. "If she gives you any trouble, let me know. She just loves coming over here. You know, if you want me to pay you for watching her, I can."

Rinoa insisted, "It's okay, really. I don't mind. She's good. No trouble at all."

The two children were as close as sisters despite the fact there was about five years between them. Rinoa was happy to see her daughter have this kind of relationship with someone. She never told Squall that Ellone came over and she told Julie not to say anything either. For some reason, she just didn't feel it was a good idea to tell him. Would he get mad? Possibly. Did she want to find out? Of course not.

It was nice to have Ellone around to help a bit. The wife of Squall Leonhart was feeling stressed out by little problems that were occurring. Arguments over meaningless things became their nightly routine. Rinoa began to allow Julie to sleep in their bed with them. She does this because almost every night, Squall has his hands on her and it's obvious to her what that means. As much as she loved him, she just felt exhausted at the end of the day and wanted to sleep. It surprised her that he didn't fall asleep faster than she did. His job must have been tiring. To give herself a better excuse to say no, she had Julie sleep in their bed with them.

"She has her own room," Squall always reminded her. She doesn't answer, pretending not to hear. One night, out of the blue, Squall said, "Julie told me something very interesting today. She said she had the best time she's ever had with her best friend."

Rinoa swallowed as she said, "So? Ellone comes over and plays with her. There's nothing wrong with that."

"No, there isn't. I just wondered why you didn't tell me."

"I don't know… Figured you'd get mad or something."

"Why? Did Laguna come here?"

"No. Squall, I'm not stupid. You think I'd really let him in our house after what he did? Glad you trust me so well. Makes me feel real good."

"I'm sorry," he said. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. She rubbed his arm. Julie was sleeping in front of Rinoa. He kept kissing her cheek, going down to her neck. It made her skin tingle.

"Squall, don't. Julie's right here."

"She's got her own damn room! Put her in there!"

"Just go to sleep. I'm tired." He growled and roughly turned away from her.

A few nights later, Squall began to work late. Rinoa was asleep by time he got home. It was better that way for him; he could avoid being questioned. In a way, he was getting revenge, made him feel like a kid. The whole situation began to upset Rinoa. She felt lonely and started calling his office during the day. He only answered a few times. "I was busy," he claimed.

She mumbled under her breath, "Yeah sure." She was thankful Ellone and Raine didn't come over the morning she woke up crying. But that afternoon, someone else did. A hug was the greeting she received from Fujin when she answered the door after the bell sounded. "Hi Fujin. What are you doing here?"

"Just came to visit with you," Fujin said.

"Well come in and have a seat." They sat down on the couch where Julie was playing with toys on the floor. Fujin couldn't help noticing that Julie looked like a miniature Rinoa. "What's new? How have you been?"

"Not a whole lot. A little disappointed that Seifer hasn't called me in a while. Not much I can do about that though. He's got his girlfriend so…"

"Do you like him?"

"… Is it obvious?"

"Not really. I mean, after a while you begin to wonder but nothing that's noticeable right away. How long have you liked him?"

"I don't know, a long time. I can't tell him though. He wouldn't be interested. Anyway, change the subject. How have you been?"

"Not so good. It's been lonely around here. Squall's working late and I miss him so much."

"Oh, honey, he's not working late."

"He's not?"

Fujin shook her head and said, "No, he's been coming over to our house. I didn't know 'til yesterday 'cause I've been gone all week. I assumed you knew. I should've told you. Sorry."

"It's okay," Rinoa said. "You didn't know. I assumed he was out cheating on me. At least I know where he's been. Have to ask him what he was doing over there."

"Yeah. I don't know what they were up to. I went straight to my room… Have things been rough between you two?"

"A little, yeah. Fujin, do you want to come with me on a short trip to buy something?"

"Sure." Since Rinoa did not have one, they took Fujin's car, traveling to the nearest city. "What are we looking for exactly?"

"I just want to grab something real quick. Here's ten dollars. Can you take Julie over to get a toy? I'll meet you out here in a few minutes."

"Okay… Come on, Julie. Let's get you a toy." A small hand reached up to Fujin. She held it and they walked to the toy store next door. She wondered what Rinoa was up to, though she knew it was none of her business. More than likely, she would find out later. Julie's eyes got wide, after they walked through the automatic doors, when she saw all the toys on the shelves. The baby dolls attracted her the most. "I want baby," Julie said as she picked one up. It was a regular baby doll in a pink pajama suit with a white ruffled collar. Other than putting a plastic spoon to its mouth, you couldn't do anything special with it like change its diaper. "Baby don't wanna be in da box."

"Let's go bring her to the register then." It rang up as more than ten dollars but Fujin didn't mind making up the difference. Rinoa wasn't outside so they waited in the car. Julie told Fujin she was going to name the baby "Cherry". "Cherry, huh?" Fujin said. "That's a pretty cute name. Did you make that up yourself?"

" Uhh… Yes. I did."

"What do you think your mommy's doing?"

"I don't know."

"I don't either. We'll have to ask her when she gets back." Rinoa returned with a bag carried behind her as if to hide it. "What'd you get?" Fujin asked after the car door slammed shut.

"Just some clothes," she said. "Did Julie find something?"

"Yeah. She picked up a baby doll and decided to call it Cherry. Tell me what you found." The bag was handed over as Rinoa's face turned red. "I wasn't going to tease you for buying lingerie. What are planning on doing with Squall when he gets home?"

"Nothing. I'll just do what I can to keep him there."

"You really thin that'll work?"

"I don't know. I hope so, but… it's weird just thinking about it. Basically I'm just giving into everything he wants so he'll stay home."

"He's not cheating on you though."

"He could start."

"I don't think fucking his brains out is going to make anything any better. I'm not trying to criticize you, that's just my opinion. So don't yell at me."

"I wont," Rinoa said. "Let's just go." That night, Rinoa stayed up until Squall came home. The whole time she waited, she was deciding whether or not to wear her new clothes. Shyness got the best of her and she decided against it. The only reason she bought it anyway was as a last resort. Looking at the bag made her feel foolish and ashamed. She was too shy to show herself off- even to her own husband. When Squall walked through the door, he was surprised to see Rinoa sitting on the couch. "What have you been doing?" she asked immediately.

"I was at uhh… I was at… um… Rajin's house," he stuttered.

"That's great but I asked what you've been doing. You smell like alcohol. You were drinking weren't you?" He didn't give her an answer. There was no need. She had figured it out. Lucky for him he wasn't completely wasted. But he did feel dizzy and had to sit down. "Squall," she said while she took hold of his hands. "Please don't do this. I want you to come home. I miss you. Have you only been drinking at Rajin's or other places too?"

"… Went to a bar a few times."

"I don't want you going to a bar. If you get drunk enough, you could do something rash. If you want to drink, please do it at home. Please."

"… Okay." He was hearing what she was saying but it wasn't really sinking in. She hugged him, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. When she dropped her arms, she took his hand and led him upstairs. He looked at her with blank confusion. It was impossible to know what he was thinking if anything at all. She had to help him get dressed for bed. When he lay down next to Rinoa, he realized something was missing. After a moment (a long moment), it finally registered there was no Julie. Before he could even ask Rinoa's lips pressing against his in a sweet kiss silenced him.

"Squall, I love you. I'm not mad at you and I'm sorry for making you mad. Please stay home." In response, he kissed her, moving from her mouth to her jaw line. She let him do what he wanted so that he would come home tomorrow night.

In the morning, after the sun had successfully beaten down on Rinoa's eyes to wake her up, she got dressed. It was late enough for her to know that Squall had gone to work. "Mommy. Mommy," Julie called. "I gotstahave to drink pee!" Rinoa had to go get her daughter out of her crib and put her down on the floor. They still hadn't bought her a regular bed yet. Rinoa was saving a little money here and there to do so. While Julie scurried off to the bathroom, her mother started breakfast. The smell reached Julie as she was going back to her room. She decided to dress herself. She pulled a white short-sleeved shirt over her head that had the cartoon version of a dog printed on it. In the bottom of her drawer she found some shorts to throw on as well as some mismatched socks.

"Ellone is going to come play with you today. When her mom drops her off I'm going to see if she can watch you two for a few minutes. I have to go to the store real quick, okay?"

"Okay. Can we get some cookies?"

"Sure, honey." Raine didn't come by until about noon. She was more than happy to watch the girls for a few minutes. Because she didn't have a car, Rinoa had to walk. But she made it quick. The grocery store really wasn't that far away. And only a couple blocks away from there stood the liquor store, which was where she wanted to go. How odd life is. Now things were different. She figured it would be safer to have Squall drink at home rather than some other place where something bad could happen. She didn't want to put his life or their marriage at risk.

Then a thought ran through her head, causing her to stop there on the sidewalk. Was it possible to have him quit now while the habit was just arising? This way the demon could be killed before it completely took over her husband and everything would be better. They would be the happy couple they started out to be. No, she shook her head. That wasn't something he'd agree to and she couldn't force him to go. If she threatened to throw him out he may just find another companion. That would tear her to pieces.

At home, the children greeted Rinoa with smiling faces, eager for the treat she'd said she'd bring. "You each can have one cookie," she told them. In the kitchen, she hid the beer in the cupboard where the kids couldn't reach it. Then she let them devour their snack. Raine made sure to give Rinoa a hug before leaving. The young mother had a seat on the couch where the white bear, given by Rinoa's parents to Julie, sat also. But the fur of the stuffed animal was not really white anymore. Over the few years it'd survived, it began to take on a grayish color. Some of the strings on its eyes were frayed and its bow was missing. Changes can occur so quickly. Sometimes those changes felt as though they passed as quickly as a person could blink. _Why couldn't some things remain the same?_ Rinoa asked herself, thinking of the happiness she'd once shared with Squall. Why couldn't that one thing remain the same? Why did he have to drink? She could handle Julie and she could handle having a job but that… She couldn't handle Squall turning out like his father. She couldn't handle her family being turned into Laguna's. Something would have to be done.

So what did she do? She called Selphie, trying not to get upset as she told her everything. Selphie decided to come over. "Wow, she's so big," Selphie said when she saw Julie. "I remember her as a baby."

Rinoa responded, "Yeah. I'm sorry I haven't seen you guys in a long time. I was going to have all of you over but… things haven't been all that great."

"So I understand. How bad is it?"

"Well I've told you the worst of it. I'm afraid he's going to turn out like his father, you know?"

"Yeah. Here's what you should do: come up with a plan to get him to quit then act on it. If you need any help at all, I know we'll all be willing to help. Don't be afraid to ask us." Her raven-haired friend nodded. "Tell you what. Let me talk to Zell, maybe he can be of some help."

"Okay. Thanks, Selphie."

"So, other than that, how are things?"

She shrugged. "Boring, tiring. I've had too much time to think and I don't like it. Can't wait to have a job and be too busy to think."

"Aunt Rinny," little Ellone said. "Can I give Julie her bear? She wants it."

"Of course. Go ahead. Stay in here with her though. She likes to get into things sometimes."

"Okay. I'll go get her." Ellone took the three-year-old by the hand and led her back into the living room. There she retrieved her bear.

"What are the others up to?" Rinoa asked as she watched the little ones sit on the floor.

"Well," Selphie started, "Quistis and Zell are going out. Isn't that a surprise? I never imagined she'd get together with him. Not that she finds him disgusting or anything, mind you. She just doesn't know him all that well. But after a few dates, she made up her mind. The good thing is, he's patient with her. She's been so busy 'cause of college, it's unbelievable."

"I bet. That has to be stressful. Have to see her when she's got the time."

"We should all get together again when she has a break. That'd be fun. Maybe we could all go on a little trip or something."

"Is Irvine living with you now?"

"Yes he is. We're both saving up money for, well, everything I guess. A house, future bills, just to have a good start on it all. That way we wont fall into debt right after we move in."

"That's not a bad idea. At least you'll be prepared." Selphie stayed until Raine came to get Ellone. Once all the visitors were gone, Rinoa started dinner. Julie fell asleep watching TV on the couch. When Squall walked through the front door, he was greeted with a kiss. "I missed you," his wife said. He wrapped his arms around her, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"I might go out later," he said. She instantly became angry. She knew what he meant. He was going to go out for a drink. Her fingers wrapped tightly around the collar of his shirt.

"No, you're not. You're staying here. If you want to drink, fine I can't stop you. But do it here. I'm afraid of what'll happen if you go somewhere else and do it." They stared at each other for a moment until Squall sighed, a signal that he'd given in. "Go look in the cupboard above the fridge." She listened, hearing the small door open and the can cracking open. Guilt filled her heart. She'd allowed him to do this and she knew that she would continue to allow it for days to come.

At night, Julie would have to sleep in her crib. Squall drank enough to make it noticeable. His voice seemed a little off and his speech was hardly coherent. When he was kissing Rinoa, it felt slobbery, disgusting. The way he climbed on her made her feel worse. The whole act was repulsive, not loving. Afterwards, while Squall was asleep, Rinoa felt the need too shower before returning to bed.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Julie was excited to go to school. She was so excited she almost forgot her backpack, which contained everything she needed. Rinoa hugged her daughter and watched her get on the bus. While she was gone, Rinoa began filling out job applications. Within a few months, she sent off an application that was accepted. She would start working the next day at 7:30 in the morning. That was about the time Julie's bus showed up. They'd have to make some type of arrangement. It became agreed that Rinoa's mother would make sure Julie got on the bus until Rinoa got a car of her own and could drive her.

Rinoa ended up being a waitress at the local restaurant where Selphie worked. It was Selphie who trained her in. "Not really difficult but the first day's always a long one," Selphie said. "Once you get the hang of it, it'll be fine." To Rinoa, it seemed odd that she enjoyed having a job so much. Then again it was her first day. When the two weren't taking orders or scrubbing tables, they talked. Both of them felt like high school students again as they discussed things that really didn't matter. "By the way, work gets over at three," Selphie interrupted.

Rinoa said, "Really? Why?"

"Don't know. That's just the way it's run. We don't serve dinner."

"Oh. That works. I'll get home about the same time as my daughter. Then she wont be left alone." Irvine paid a visit later on in the day with a bouquet of flowers for Selphie. Rinoa looked on with envy at the two as they embraced. They didn't have to be afraid of each other. Irvine didn't drink. He didn't crawl all over Selphie at night. Selphie didn't have to be afraid that he might hit her if she refused him while he was drunk. She didn't have to be afraid that he might do something to their daughter if she turned him away. How could Rinoa not be envious? They didn't have to be afraid of anything.

Selphie whispered into Irvine's ear, "Do me a favor. Sometime soon, I'm going to see if I can get all the girls together for a day. See if you and Zell can talk to Squall. Things are getting really bad, I think."

"Okay," he said. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." Quickly she pecked him on the cheek then went back to work. The flowers were put in a tall glass filled with water.

"See you later, Selphie."

"Bye."

In the back, Rinoa had decided to wash the dishes. Her mind was racing with upsetting thoughts and she couldn't make them stop. This was one reason why she'd wanted a job, to distract her from thinking. Washing dishes apparently didn't help her much. The whole time, she was trying to plan out how the rest of the day would go after work. First, she would spend some time with Julie: ask her how her day was; help her with any homework. Second thing would be to make dinner. Then when Squall came home, she'd try not to let him get drunk. He could have a few but she didn't want him to get drunk. That didn't need to happen everyday. At three, Rinoa was disappointed to go. It seemed odd to her that she felt that way. Maybe it was because she didn't want to face the situation back at home.

The house was empty when she arrived home. The bus would be dropping Julie off in a few minutes. To kill time, Rinoa decided to change. Something made her pause after opening the door to the closet. There on the floor was a white plastic bag containing the lingerie she'd bought a few years ago. The tag's still attached, the receipt still at the bottom. She took the bag and hid it under the bed. It would stay there until she found it again. In the closet hung a long white dress she decided to wear. It fit snuggly to the shape of her curves, pooling at her feet. It was a little too formal to wear everyday but something inside her made her want to wear it. The neckline was shaped in a V that ended just past her collarbone, not hiding her necklace.

A noise outside made her look toward the window. The yellow bus had stopped by the sidewalk. Julie carefully came down the metal stairs to the sidewalk. From there she ran down to the house. "Mom," she called as she burst through the door. "I'm home! Are you here?"

"Yes I am. Did you have fun?" she called. She met her daughter downstairs in the kitchen.

"Yes I did. Want to know what we did today?"

"Sure." The two sat down on the couch in the living room.

"I played with Ellone on the playground this morning and we played jump rope. In school, I gots to paint pictures. I can bring um home tomorrow and show you."

"Okay. I can't wait to see them. I bet they're real nice. What did you paint in your pictures, Julie?"

"Umm, I made two. One of me, you, and daddy and one of me and my bestest friend Ellone."

"You don't have any homework do you?"

"No."

"Well what would you like to do? Do you want to play a game or something?"

"Yes I do."

"What would you like to play?"

"Ants in the pants!" Rinoa took the box down from the closet. It was an odd little game where you had to flip plastic, various colored ants into hollow plastic pants. Ellone gave it to Julie as a present a few years ago. Julie could play with it for hours if they let her. So they played until the clock changed the time an hour ahead. Then Rinoa started dinner. Julie played by herself at the table. The sound of a car pulling in the driveway got their attention. "Daddy," Julie squealed as the door opened. She wrapped her arms around his knees. He pulled her off and picked her up.

"How was your day at school today?" he asked.

"Good. I had lots of fun. Did you have fun at work, daddy?"

"Okay. Let me talk to your mother." He put his daughter down and walked to Rinoa's side. She didn't look up, even when he kissed her on the cheek. In the cupboard he found two cans of beer left. "When are you going to the store again?"

"I don't know," Rinoa said. "When we need groceries."

"What's with the dress?"

"I don't know. I found it in the closet and decided to wear it. Does it look bad or something?"

"No of course not. Just wondering. You look really nice."

"Thank you. Why don't you help Julie set the table, please?" While they did that, Rinoa put the finishing touches on dinner. The Leonhart family sat down to dinner in silence until Julie started talking about school. During this time Squall finished up the last two cans of beer. Rinoa stared down at her plate, moving her food around with her fork. She didn't feel like eating; she'd suddenly lost her appetite. Julie helped wash the dishes once everyone had finished.

"Mom," she said. "You didn't eat. Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm fine, dear. Go play before you have to go to bed." Julie ran upstairs to her room. Rinoa finished washing the dishes real quick then sat down on the couch. Squall was watching TV. Neither of them said a word to each other. She wasn't happy with him and he knew it. But she wasn't mad, no, just upset. The room was heavy with tension. For some reason Squall felt anger toward his wife. She sat on the couch, wringing her hands looking down at the floor like she'd been beaten. He'd done nothing to her so why was she acting like that? He could see she was on the verge of crying.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked her.

She said, "Nothing."

"Don't give me that. You look like you're about to cry. Tell me what's wrong. Did I do something? Is that it?"

"No. I'm fine really." Then she smiled at him. But as happy as she tried to look, she couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed." He got up out of his chair and she listened to his footsteps fade up the staircase. Instantly tears fell onto the skirt of her white dress. Why exactly was she crying? Maybe it was because of everything. Seeing Squall drink 'til he couldn't think properly anymore. Hearing Julie talk about school with happiness shining in her face. Feeling like you don't matter as long as you can go to the grocery store. Remembering what things had been like before. When she regained her composure, she went up to Julie's room and slept on the floor by the bed.

In the morning, Julie was shaking her. "Mommy, wake up," she said. It was apparently seven in the morning, Julie would have to go to school soon and Rinoa had to go to work. "Why were you sleeping on the floor, mommy?" As Rinoa sat up, she tried to conjure up a good excuse but came up with nothing. Her daughter was already dressed for school. She looked so adorable in her overall dress Rinoa thought. "Daddy went to work already… Are you and daddy fighting?"

"No, sweetie. We're not fighting. Let me get changed real quick and then I'll make you some breakfast."

"Okay." In the bathroom, the young mother took a look at herself in the mirror and sighed. Strands of hair stood from her head as though someone had rubbed a balloon on her scalp. Dark circles had formed under her eyes. She didn't understand why, she'd slept the whole night. She washed her face quickly, put some cover-up on where it was needed and got dressed for work. Julie wasn't late for school; Rinoa wasn't late for work.

"You look tired," Selphie said.

Rinoa said, "Well I slept on Julie's floor last night. Must not have been all that comfortable, I guess."

"Oh. Why were you sleeping on Julie's floor? Did something happen?"

"Got in a tiny fight with Squall. He was mad at me anyway so I went and slept in Julie's room. I think that may have worried Julie a little…"

At elementary school, Julie met Ellone on the playground. They sat by a tree in the field and talked, "Elle," Julie said. "Do your mommy and daddy ever fight?"

"Yeah. A lot," Ellone said.

"I think mine got in a fight. My mommy was sleeping on the floor by my bed when I woke up this morning. Daddy just ignored me when I told him."

"My mommy and daddy yell at each other a lot. Then mom cries. I hate to see her like that."

"Why do they fight?"

"Mom yells at dad for drinking a lot. That's usually why they fight." The conversation made both of them feel sad. Julie thought she felt her heart sink in her chest. The day seemed to go by in a flash because she was afraid to go home. Would her parents get in another fight? Would they yell at each other? Would her mom cry again? She didn't really want to know the answers to those questions. She just wanted it to stop. Rinoa was lying on the couch when her daughter came in the house.

"Hi, sweetie," Rinoa called. "How was your day?"

"Fine," Julie said. She slipped her shoes off and ran over to the couch. "Can I lay by you, mommy?" Rinoa scooted over to make room for her daughter. Sadness was evident in her daughter's face. "What's wrong?"

"Why do you and daddy fight?"

"Grown ups do that sometimes."

"Do the mommies always cry?"

"… Sometimes, but not always. It probably depends on why they were fighting."

"It makes me sad to see you cry, mommy." No words would come out of Rinoa's mouth so she just kissed the top of her daughter's head. It didn't really matter; she couldn't come up with anything comforting to say anyway. Squall found them on the couch when he came home and at first thought something had happened. But Julie was staring at him. He could sense she wasn't very happy. Rinoa was asleep. The rims of her eyelids were red.

"Hi, daddy…"

He picked her up and said, "Hello, Julie. You okay?"

"No."

"Why what's wrong?"

"I think mommy's sad. It makes me sad when she cries. Are you going to fight today?"

"… No … Julie, why don't you go upstairs and play. I'm going to talk to your mom."

"Are you going to make her cry?" she said in an accusative tone.

"No." Julie went upstairs cautiously. Squall shook Rinoa's shoulders gently. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Squall! Why are you home so early? Oh… shit. I don't have dinner ready. I'm so sorry. If you just give me a few minutes I can-"

"Rinoa, it's okay. I need to talk to you. Why are your eyes so red? You've been crying, haven't you?"

"No, no. I feel asleep on my hand."

"Don't lie to me. I know you've been crying. Julie told me. I'm sorry for upsetting you. Have you been to the store yet?" She shook her head. "Good. Don't go then. I'll try to quit drinking. I promise I will. I just don't know where to start." She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. As much as she wanted to believe he would quit, she had some doubt in her heart. Maybe that's what made him fall through on his promise. And she let it go on so she knew she was just as guilty. She restocked the cupboard each time it was close to being empty and slept in Julie's room whenever there was a fight. Julie discussed this with Ellone until they came up with a plan.

That weekend Ellone came over to spend the night. Squall had to work Saturday so he was gone almost all day. While Rinoa was asleep early in the morning, the two girls snuck downstairs to the kitchen where they found a way to reach the cupboard. One by one they opened all the cans of beer and emptied it in the sink. Rinoa came down just as they finished up. "Julie! What have you done? Your father will be so angry," she said. There was fear in her voice; her eyes were opened wide in worry.

Julie said, "Now daddy doesn't have anything to drink. He can't fight with you anymore and you wont cry anymore." The two little girls watched Rinoa throw all the cans into a plastic bag then hide it in the garbage can. Once that was finished, she made breakfast. Julie felt proud of what she'd done. Squall wouldn't have anything to drink now. During breakfast, Rinoa was silent. Julie and Ellone were extremely talkative. Raine came to get Ellone around noon. The two mothers talked for a few minutes before saying their goodbyes. Rinoa took Julie with her on a walk to the store. "Can I get a candy?"

"Sure you can." They picked out something to eat for dinner and grabbed a gallon of milk. The next thing her mother did shocked Julie. Watching her mom come out of the bar fully loaded with everything that'd just been dumped down the drain upset her. But she said nothing and walked hand-in-hand with her mother down the road back home.


	18. Chater Seventeen

Within a month, Ellone seemed to disappear. She was no longer at school. One day she'd been absent and never showed up again. Julie told her mother she thought someone had taken her friend away. "No, she's fine," said Rinoa. "Her mother called and told me where they are. Would you like to go see her sometime? We can go after school if you'd like."

"Okay," Julie said. The next day, after school, Selphie volunteered to drive them to their destination. At the apartment across town was where they stopped. Rinoa rang the bell on the panel by the glass door for room 206 and Raine came down to open the door.

"Well, at least you'll be able to see who it is before you open the door. And they can't get in."

"Not necessarily. If you pull the door hard enough, it'll open. No real use for the key… Get through the door and it'd probably be easy to get into the four apartments. Well, come on." They followed her up the skinny staircase up to the small balcony where the two wooden doors were embedded into the colorless walls. "Ellone misses Julie so much but … I'd rather she not get hurt…"

"He hasn't hit any of you, has he?"

"Not yet. I thought he was going to so I took Ellone and left. I'm not sure if he's looking for us or not."

"You should be safe here for a while at least…" The apartment was almost bare. They'd left in a hurry and didn't bring much with them. There was hardly anything in Ellone's room, not very many toys. There wasn't a couch yet so the adults sat around the small table on the floor. Raine asked how Squall was doing. "He's, uh, he's good…"

"Ellone said Julie told her you fight a lot. Why, may I ask?"

"Well, uh… I don't know how to say this… Squall's developed a bit of a drinking problem." Raine bit her bottom lip in response to hearing this. So Squall had fallen into the exact same habits his father had. As his mother, she'd always feared this. She wanted him to have a better life than they did but it seemed his family was following the tracks left behind.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. He keeps promising he'll stop and he will for a few days then it'll just start up again. I don't think threatening will do any good."

"No, I doubt it…" Selphie stood up and went to find the bathroom. She didn't want them to see the tears welling up in her eyes. All of it made her sad. She felt helpless because it seemed she could do nothing. Irvine hadn't yet gone through with his plan to talk to Squall. She would have to push him to do that. It couldn't wait any longer. She'd get all the guys together and all the girls together, each group separated from one another. Then they could all talk. Rinoa would get the chance to let it all out while Zell and Irvine would put the pressure on Squall. Maybe they'd get him to think seriously about quitting. She'd tell Irvine about this plan as soon as she got home. The plan would go into action that weekend. Rinoa let the girls come over to her house and the guys went over to Irvine's, which was actually Selphie's. Zell sat on the floor with his legs crossed, Irvine sat down on the bed, and Squall grabbed a chair from a small desk in the corner of the room.

"So, you're dating Quistis now, huh?" Squall asked.

"Yeah," Zell said. "I'm surprised she wanted to go out with me. Lucky, I guess."

"That's one way of looking at it."

"Shut up."

"How are things with Rinoa?" Irvine interrupted. "Going well?"

"Uh, yeah," Squall said. Suddenly he got defensive. "Why did Selphie say something to you?"

"Not exactly… Heard you had a little problem- well, not really little but… Have you been drinking a lot?"

"Oh don't start."

"Everyone's worried about you: your friends, your wife, your kid! To tell the truth, I'm more worried about your family than you. Do you know what kinds of things you're capable of when you're drunk? What would you do if the next morning you find that you've injured Rinoa or maybe Julie? What would you do then?"

"That's not going to happen!"

"How do you know?"

"So I have an occasional drink. Who cares?"

"An occasional drink? You're in denial. Take a step off your pedestal and take a look at yourself! You have a problem. Give yourself a chance to fix it."

"Is this why I was brought here? So I could be lectured?"

"Not trying to lecture you. All of us want you to quit. That's why you're here. Do me a favor, _at least_ talk to Rinoa about it. Listen to what _she_ has to say."

At Rinoa's house, the three girls were engaged in conversation. Quistis was telling them about college, answering Rinoa's question. "I stayed in a dorm for a while," Quistis said. "But not for very long. My roommate irritated me so much. I ended up getting a small apartment nearby."

"Do you like college then?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah. It can be pretty tough but I like it. The people there are more tolerable than the ones we went to high school with, which is good. I hated those pricks… need to be slapped… Anyway, how have you two been? Haven't seen you in a while."

Selphie said, "_I'm_ fine."

Rinoa forced a smile and answered, "Fine."

"Tell her, Rinoa. Let your feelings out. This is your chance to say what you want and not get into trouble. We wont tell."

Concern washed over Quistis' face as she said, "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"It's okay, Rinoa. Let it out."

Tears appeared in the young wife's eyes as she told Quistis everything. The whole time, Quistis had her hand to her mouth. She was shocked. "Every time I see him drink, I want to break a plate over his head. But I don't do anything- say anything! I just sit there and watch him fucking do it!" She paused to take few breaths to regain her cool. "I love him, I really do but I can't watch him do this. He's going to kill himself."

"Or you or Julie. Have you told him how you feel?"

"Sort of, I guess…"

"Well he needs to know. That's why I wanted Irvine to talk to him. I thought, maybe, he could get through to him, but _you_ might have to."

"I can't."

"Yes you can. Just tell him everything."

"You can do it, Rinoa," Quistis said. "If he doesn't listen, maybe you should leave. It sounds bad, but you shouldn't risk Julie's life or yours."

Talking to them made Rinoa feel better. She decided to leave Julie with her mother. Squall came home not long after the girls left. He wasn't very happy; she could feel it. Immediately he went to the cupboard but Rinoa stopped him. "Don't touch that," she yelled at him. "We need to talk now. Come in here and sit by me." The growl that escaped his throat reached her ears. He didn't sit by her; he stood. "You need to quit drinking. You're going to get someone hurt- you, Julie, me…"

"No I wont," he said. "I had this fucking discussion with Irvine."

"Well maybe you should listen to them, damn it. No more drinking. I'll pour your fucking beer down the fucking sink if I have to."

"No you wont."

"Yes you will! If you don't start trying, I'm taking Julie and getting out of here."

"What? Where will you go?"

"Where do you think? I'll go with Selphie or my mom or Quistis, anywhere away from you. If I have to I'll get an apartment somewhere else like your mother did."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Your mom moved out of the house. She's living in an apartment. If you don't start trying, I'm going to do the same." He just shook his head but made no comment. Did the message get through to him? That was unclear. The two didn't speak to each other very much throughout the rest of the day. Silence hung in the air around them at dinner. Rinoa stared down at her plate and moved the food a bit with her fork.

"Why don't you eat?" Squall asked.

Rinoa said, "I'm not really hungry…"

"I don't believe that."

"I had something earlier."

"Why do you lie to me?"

"Why do you?"

"I don't," he said.

"You're right," she said. "You just can't follow through on things you say you're going to do."

"… Nice to know you have some confidence in me…" He stood up from his chair. She thought he was going to leave. Instead, he walked over to the cupboard in the kitchen. She sighed; he could hear it. "Since you don't…" The cracking sound of the can being opened was deafening. All she could do was growl. And he smiled, slightly but it was surely there. Everything had built up inside of her by then. It all came out in a way not even she expected. So when her first made contact with his arm, he was surprised. She continued to beat on him in a blind fury. The blows stung but did no real damage to him. Finally it stopped and sobs come from her mouth. Squall pulled her into a hug. She just shoved him away.

"Don't you touch me," she said through her teeth. "Go ahead and drink since that's obviously more important to you than your family. But don't be surprised when you come home from work and find the house empty." With that hanging in the air, she went to bed.

Squall sat down in a chair at the table with his head in his hands. What she'd said was true. He didn't deserve the two of them, he'd wondered. "I'm already losing them," he mumbled to himself. He picked up the can at the end of the table and chucked it at the wall. "Fuck! What the fuck am I doing?" The aluminum cylinder broke droplets of beer sprayed on the surrounding surfaces. It made a puddle on the floor like blood. Finally he went upstairs to the angel he'd hurt so badly. "Rinoa." He crawled in bed next to her.

"What?"

"You're right. I'm sorry. You know I love you more than anything."

"… Sometimes it doesn't feel like it."

"I should let you go so I can't hurt you anymore and you can find someone better. But I'm selfish and I want to keep you." She rested her head against her chest and he kissed the line where her hair parted. "I love you, Rinoa."

"I love you too." Their lips met in a sweet kiss that actually felt loving. A feeling Rinoa hadn't experienced in some time. They got the chance to express their feelings without worrying about their daughter walking in, without roughness, without Squall being drunk.

In the morning, Rinoa called her mother to ask if Julie could stay over there a while longer. "We're going to see Raine. We'll come by and get Julie afterwards," she said. Then the two went on their way. During the drive, Rinoa stared out the passenger window. The trees moved by a blur of green and brown. She began to wonder if it was a bad idea to take Squall over there. '_Maybe I should've asked her first_,' she thought. But now it was too late. But what would possibly happen? When the glass door to the hall was opened, Raine came out and hugged her son. It seemed a long time passed before they let go and Raine hugged Rinoa.

"Come in," she said. "We'll have to be kind of quiet, Ellone's still sleeping." In the apartment, she invited them to have a seat. "Would you like something to drink?" Both politely refused.

Squall said, "Mom. Why are you living here by yourself? Do you even have a job?"

"I'm fine. I got everything taken care of except your father. He wont see me until he can prove he's quit drinking for good."

"But wont you miss him?"

"Of course. But I'd rather that Ellone and I live to old age instead of being killed by your father."

"He wouldn't kill you."

Then, as she was holding a coffee cup to her mouth, her gaze directly met his. Something cold slithered its way down his spine. "People are capable of many things… especially when they're drunk and don't know what they're doing," she said, after which she took a sip of the black liquid. He knew what she was getting at. She was warning him. No response was thrown back at her. "How have you two been getting along?"

"Fine. Haven't taken any money from Rinoa's parents in some time. They still offer though."

"I meant relationship-wise, not financially."

"Oh… well." He pauses a moment. "We've had our problems but overall, I'd say pretty good."

"If I were to ask Rinoa, would she answer differently?" The young couple exchanged glances, hers worried and his confused. It happened in an instant, from the corner of their eyes. Quickly his gaze turned to his mother's. "Did you not understand the question?"

"I got it," he said. "Ask her and see. Isn't that the best way? To test out your theory?"

"Perhaps, but I don't want to get her in trouble for something _I_ did." In her mind, Rinoa thanked Squall's mother. It seemed as though she got the message. A comforting smile tugged at Raine's lips. The conversation bounced between Squall and Raine. Rinoa spoke up to answer a question now and then. She was careful about what she said in response to questions about the two of them. If her answers made a stab at Squall then he may get mad at her. After half an hour of being there, the conversation was interrupted by the presence of Ellone. She blinked when she saw Squall.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Squall said, "I'm visiting. What are you doing here?"

"I live here." He smiled at her and she went to sit on her mother's lap.

Raine said, "Did you sleep good?"

"Yes. I did… I think. I don't remember."

"Well, would you like some cereal or something for breakfast?"

"Yeah." Raine picked her daughter up, taking her into the kitchen, the adjacent room. Cereal fell into a glass bowl, each piece making individual _clink_ noises. The young couple in the living room sat by one another, waiting. The tips of Squall's fingers brushed his wife's knuckles lightly. Her eyes remained fixed upon the floor. He wondered what she was thinking. The corner of her bottom lip was trapped between her teeth but still she looked beautiful. No signs of emotion could ruin that angelic face. In his heart he felt the urge to hold her and kiss her tug painfully at him. A breathy sigh floats from her lips. Squall watched her breathe.

"What are you guys going to do for your anniversary?" Raine asked as she sat back down.

Squall said, "We're not sure yet."

"Oh. Well you still have a lot of time. I just wondered if you had anything planned yet."

"We probably wont do a whole lot," Rinoa said. "At least, we probably wont go spend the night anywhere. I don't want to make my parents take care of Julie all the time so we'll have to work out something different."

"How long can you hide from Laguna?" squall asked, deciding to change the subject.

"As long as possible," Raine answered. "If I have to move, I will. But I'm not going back until he quits drinking."

"What about Ellone? She may get tired of moving."

"Squall, I can't believe we're having this conversation. I'm not going to risk her life or mine so he doesn't have to be alone. Hopefully, if he's smart and misses us enough, he'll at least try to change. But we'll see." Only ten minutes after the young couple left, the handle on the glass door popped open. The distinct sound reached Raine's ears. It's an unusual noise. She goes over to her apartment door expecting to find someone outside who'd forgotten his or her keys. But that's not what she saw. The glass door swung open, smacking against the wall hard. Laguna started up the stairs. While Raine propped a chair under the handle of her apartment door, she called to her daughter, "Ellone! Come here! Hurry!"

"What is it, mommy?" the little girl said.

"Come here, baby." Raine grabbed her child and went for the sliding doors to the balcony. "Hold onto me tight. Hold on." Small arms wrapped tightly around Raine's neck but not tight enough to choke her. "Wrap your legs around my waist. Hold on." She climbed over the railing of the balcony. The chair against the door sounded as though it would break at any moment each time Laguna pounded against it. It wasn't a long drop to the ground floor but Raine was afraid Ellone might break a bone if she dropped down herself. Though the fall made Raine's legs ache and jolted Ellone, they were both fine. The mother leaned against the outside wall under the balcony where her husband wouldn't be able to see them. For an hour the two sat there listening, waiting. After they saw a familiar car drive away, they went back inside.

Raine started searching for a job as well as someone to care for her daughter for when she got one. Right now they were spending the money that Raine had saved up. But soon that money would run out and they would be stuck. Rinoa's mother offered to take care of Ellone from time to time. "Let me pay you," Raine said.

"No, no," Julia answered. "I don't mind watching her once in a while. Plus she loves being able to play with Julie. It's nice to have a little bit of company while my husband's working." At the local grocery store, Raine received a job. She started saving up again incase they needed it for an emergency. The first thing the family of two did (once they had the money) was more into a different apartment within the same complex. Raine didn't want to completely leave but she didn't want Laguna to find them again. She had to pay a little extra money for a few damages inflicted by her husband.

Seasons changed, holidays went by swiftly and Rinoa's rocky relationship with Squall was slowly smoothing out, very slowly. He was beginning to quit the drinking. Rinoa always told him how proud she was and comforted him whenever he had a tough time. Then something happened. Raine came over a few days after school had started up again with Ellone in her arms. Tears stained their faces. Ellone was absolutely hysterical. "Is Squall home yet?" Raine asked.

Softly, Rinoa's voice came out, "No. Not yet but you're welcome to come in and wait for him. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Do you have something to drink?"

"Yeah. Sure. Have a seat. I'll get something for you."

Ellone hugged Julie then followed her up to Julie's room. While Julie comforted Ellone upstairs, Rinoa tried to comfort Raine downstairs. Finally, Squall arrived at home and walked through the door, surprised to see his mother. "What are you doing here?" he said then quickly added, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Your father," she mumbled.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"He's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"Dead. He died."

Squall sat down next to her. All the energy suddenly drained from his body and he had to sit down. "Dead?" Squall asked. "How?"

"Took a handful of aspirin with a whole lot of liquor."

"He killed himself?"

"No, I doubt it. Your father isn't the type. Even if he was in pain, he'd hurt others, not himself… Anyway, he was probably drunk and probably had a headache."

"You don't seem too upset."

"I'm all cried out. And soon Ellone's tears will dry out too. But she'll still feel it in her heart as I do. And she'll wear it on her face."

"Waste of time," Squall spat. He wandered to the other side of the room as he continued, his words full of malice. "Fuck him. He never gave a fuck about any of us, any of us. He just wanted to control us."

"No. You're wrong. He did care. He loved every one of us. He had a _problem_, Squall. I'm not asking you to forgive him and you can be happy if you want. _But_ I want you to know that he did care. The alcohol controlled him. If you're not careful, it'll do the same to you." After grabbing her daughter, Raine left. The familiar sound of a can popping open made Rinoa sigh. They were back to square one.

The funeral came that weekend. Raine spent a large sum of her savings on it. Why did it have to cost so much to give a loved one a last, pleasant goodbye? Many of the people there came out of respect for Raine- Squall's friends, Rinoa's friends, Rinoa's parents, and a few parents of the friends. With an exception of Rinoa (and of course blood relatives), none of the people there really _knew_ Laguna. But Raine appreciated them showing up. Rinoa hadn't personally experienced Laguna on his bad days- however, to Raine's dismay, it appeared that she would through Squall. Looking at her son, Raine wished she could scare him out of the bad habit he'd developed. If she couldn't do it to Laguna though then how would she be able to do it to Squall?

The day was brisk, the sun was hiding behind the clouds, and the colors seemed faded. Maybe it was because of all the black people wore. Everyone had found a place to stand around the stone slab marked with Laguna's name. Ellone and Julie stood by one another with their fingers interlocked, tears streaming down their faces as the priest began to speak. Hardly any tears fell from Raine's eyes. She'd cried them all out and could only express her heartache through facial features. In a strange way, she was afraid someone might think she didn't care, mistaking her feelings for the way Squall was trying to act. Both his mother and his wife could see through his seemingly cold stance. Pain in his eyes shined like lightning at midnight. He was having trouble concealing it.

"I don't know whether to feel bad or not," Quistis whispered under her breath to Zell. "I don't mean that to sound rude but he _did_ hurt his family…" Zell nodded. He also had mixed feelings about Laguna's death, as did many of those who were there. Was it ill of them to feel that way? Perhaps but who could say for sure? Many of them cried or felt some sadness in their hearts as the priest droned on about a man he barely knew.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Rinoa had received a car by the time Julie turned nine. Julie no longer had to ride the bus. Her mother drove her. The situation at home wasn't any better. Squall was still drinking and now Julie was talking back to him. That night wouldn't be any different. After dinner, Squall began to yell at Rinoa for anything he could find wrong with the house. Despite his slurred speech and his mixed up words, some of the things he spat in her direction could be hurtful. Rinoa's daily goal was to never allow him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Finally Julie jumped off the couch to stand by her mom. "If you want something done," the nine year old started, "then why don't you help with it."

"What?" Squall said.

"You heard me. Mom doesn't have to do _all_ the work. You can do something besides drink and complain. God."

"What was that? Are you talking back?" Though what he'd said sounded like on long word (_'WhatwasthatAreyoutalkingback?'_) and not really much of a threat, Julie was still scared. This emotion wasn't something she made obvious to either of her parents. Besides, Rinoa was always worried enough for the both of them. "Watch your mouth… young lady." ('_Watchyourmouth… younglaady_'). His fingers wrapped around her chin roughly as the last syllables left his lips. Rinoa immediately reacted and snatched her daughter away from him.

"Don't you touch her," she snapped. Squall staggered back with a grin on his face before making his way upstairs. "Julie. Don't ever talk back to your father like that again. He could hurt you, sweetie."

"But what if he hurts _you_ mommy?" the girl argues.

"I'll be fine. I promise. Now why don't you watch TV for a while okay? I need to take care of your father." Julie's eyes followed her mother's figure it disappeared up the stairs. Then she went outside she would not hear the noises that stirred disgust in the pit of her stomach.

It wasn't until later the same year that Rinoa began to go against Squall. One day, right after school, mother and daughter took action on a plan they'd made together. All the offending drinks were dumped down the drain. The same act Julie and Ellone performed years ago. Only this time, it wasn't hidden. Every can lay at the bottom of the sink empty and waiting to be discovered. Then the time of Squall's arrived approached. His two family members were upstairs hiding as they listened to his footsteps down below. Finally he called for his wife. "Stay here," Rinoa instructed. "I'll be right back." As her mother disappeared down the staircase, Julie stood and followed. They'd already started arguing by the time she reached a place she could watch from.

Rinoa stood looking trapped in the corner created by the counter and the sink. Squall's face was right in front of hers. His eyes danced to the rhythm of anger. Their daughter looked on fearfully, her hands turning white from gripping the banister so hard. Rinoa's eyes took a quick glance from the side at her daughter then back at Squall. He stood waiting for an answer to his questions ('_Why would you do something like this? Are you stupid?_').

"No," Rinoa finally said as she straightened up. She was not going to look like a cowardly nothing in front of her daughter. "I'm not stupid. Don't call me that." She suddenly felt very brave and kept going. "I did it because I want you to stop. You can't keep going on like this you know that! And you call me stupid. I'm not the one with the drinking problem."

"Enough," he muttered.

"You're gonna end up exactly like you never wanted to be! Just like your father!"

"I said _enough_!" Suddenly his fist was up in the air above his head, ready to come down on her. Julie's breath caught in her throat. Rinoa's pale fingers covered her own mouth. Tears appeared in her eyes. Slowly his thin lined lips began to curl downward in a sad expression. His raised arm fell down to his side. In a flash Julie was tugging her shocked mother out the door.

At Selphie's house, Selphie tried to comfort the frantically shaking Rinoa. The two friends sat at the kitchen table where Irvine stood behind them making everyone something to drink ("Hot chocolate," Selphie requested). Rinoa spilled out everything that'd happened on her listeners.

"In my head, I was chanting 'hit me, hit me, come on hit me'. I think I wanted a reason to leave him," Rinoa confessed.

Selphie looked up from the table and responded, "But if he _had_ given you a reason, are you sure you would've left him?" Before she could give an answer, Carol (Selphie's mother) came in to announce Julie had finally fallen asleep. As she took a seat by her daughter, Rinoa couldn't help noticing how much the two looked alike. But Carol now looked better than she did years before so it was now more obvious. Selphie apparently inherited very few traits of her father's, whoever he was.

"Poor girl," Carol commented about Julie. "She was so upset, but she's finally asleep."

"Thanks mom. You want something to drink? Irvine's making some hot chocolate."

He said, "It's already done." He put two cups down on the table, one in front of Selphie and the other in front of Rinoa. "Here, Mrs. Tilmitt. You can have mine. I don't really want any anyways. I'll just have a sip of Selphie's." He took a seat on the other side of Selphie.

"What are you going to do now, Rinoa?"

Rinoa sighed, "Well tomorrow I'll probably go get mine and Julie's things. Then I'll take her and go to my parents' house to stay. I'd stay here but I don't want to be a bother. I don't doubt there will be some problems. Squall isn't just going to let us go."

"Is there _anything_ we can do to help?"

"You could help me get my stuff and move it. It'll be easier to do while Squall's at work but I don't think I can do it all myself."

"What about Julie?"

"She's supposed to go to school but I think I'll keep her home."

"What about work? I'm not sure they'll let me have it off," Selphie said. "I can tell them that you're sick but I may not be able to help you. Is it okay if Irvine and my mom do it?" Rinoa nodded. "Is that okay with you guys?"

They both responded, "Yes, of course."

"Then it's settled."

A bed was set up for Rinoa in a room in the back where some of Selphie's old things had been stored. Julie slept on a cot adjacent to the empty one. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully. There was no tension in her face. A mother's pale fingers gently ran through her daughter's dark hair. "Please don't hate your father," she whispered before lying down and drifting to sleep.

In the morning Selphie was gone. They had not given her work off, just as she predicted. Carol asked Rinoa if she'd like some breakfast. "No thank you," Rinoa replied politely. "I'm a little anxious to get this over with. In fact, I think I'll get Julie up now." The child woke with ease and followed her mother to the kitchen. Not long later, the group consisting of four people left for the Leonhart house. Squall was gone. They packed clothes as well as some toys into the trunk of Rinoa's car, which she had left behind on her way to Selphie's the previous night. Quickly everything was thrown into boxes and carted away. The whole process only took a couple of hours. "If Squall comes by asking for me, tell him you haven't seen me and you don't know where I am."

Carol said, "Don't worry, we'll take care of it. If anything goes wrong, someone will let you know."

"Thank you." Rinoa hugged Irvine and Carol before getting into her car. "Tell Selphie I'll call her."

Julia Heartilly was alarmed at her daughter's sudden arrival with boxes in her arms. "Rinoa, what's going on?" she asked.

"Can we stay here for a while?"

"Of course." Once all the boxes were in the house, Rinoa explained the situation. "Oh my… Are you hurt? How did things get this bad?"

"I'm fine and so is Julie. I'm sick of being afraid. I told him before if he didn't at least _try_ to quit, I was going to leave." The flesh of her bottom lip became trapped between her teeth. "I miss him already… and I'm afraid Julie is going to _hate_ her father. She should hate his actions, not _him_. But … I know this is what I should do. I have to get through it."

"Why don't you go take a nap or something? You look frustrated. I can take care of Julie for a while. Your old room is still ready for you." Flushed in pink Rinoa's room was exactly how she remembered it. Of course there were minor details that had been forgotten, for example, the music box gathering dust on the dresser. Inside it, Rinoa found the friendship bracelet given to her by Selphie when they were children. A smile appeared on her face as she tied it on her wrist where it belonged. The bed was big enough for Julie and Rinoa to share it so Raine decided they would do that. It felt weird coming back home again. She never really thought it would escalate to this. But there she was standing in the middle of her old room. Maybe this was just a turning point to better things, or possibly the beginning to the worst of it. As she lay down Rinoa tried to clear her head of these painful thoughts.

Caraway knew there was something wrong when he came home and Julie hadn't gone home yet. "Is she spending the night here again?" he asked his wife.

She said, "Sort of. Her and Rinoa are going to stay here for a while."

"Why? What happened?"

"Ask your daughter. She's upstairs in her room." Julia didn't want to tell her husband. She didn't know what Rinoa wanted her father to know. It was easier if she did it herself.

Rinoa woke up to the sound of knocking at her door. "Come in," she called as she sat up. Her father came in and leaned against the door with his arms crossed.

He said, "So, what brings you here? It's obviously more than a friendly visit."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No, no. I didn't say that. But I have a feeling you're here for more than a visit. What happened?"

"I told Squall if he didn't quit drinking, that I'd take Julie and go. So here I am." It wasn't really a lie. She just didn't tell him everything she'd told her mother. Having her father involved in this kind of thing would only lead to trouble. Besides, she wanted to handle it by herself."

"Are you going to divorce him?"

"No but this is the last chance he gets. If he blows this… I can't go back to him."

"Something else happened. What aren't you telling me?" he asked.

"Nothing important. Just something small I'm afraid might escalate." Caraway just nodded. He didn't want to push her into telling him something she wasn't comfortable talking about. He also knew that she wouldn't want him interfering. When he took care of a problem, he made sure it wouldn't arise ever again.

"Well, you make sure and tell me if I can do anything to help."

"I will, daddy." As he went back downstairs he thought '_Daddy? She hasn't called me that in a long time'_. The moment he found out Rinoa was carrying a baby inside of her all those years ago he was flooded with anger. '_She's just a kid herself_,' Caraway had said almost shouted. Julia agreed of course. '_Have we done something wrong in raising her_,' he wondered in secret. Where had they gone wrong? Didn't they spend enough time with her? All parents probably asked themselves this when they felt their child had done something rash. Getting pregnant was a big deal, a big responsibility for someone still in school. Julia kept saying, '_I know you're angry but please don't yell at her_'. Yes, he had been angry. But his anger didn't out-weigh his pity. Inside, he felt bad knowing it would be a difficult road for Rinoa. To make matters worse, many pregnant teens were susceptible to premature births. Then there was the issue with teen marriages. How would Rinoa ever make it through, especially if she ended up doing it alone?

Julia looked up as Caraway approached and said, "How is she doing?"

"She seems all right," he told her. "She's awake if you'd like to go talk to her."

"Can you keep an eye on Julie for me then? I'll be right back." She traveled to the second floor and into Rinoa's room. "Rinoa, can I come in?" She waited for her daughter's answer with her head peering from behind the door.

"Yeah," Rinoa said.

"It's nice to see your room being used again. How have you been doing?"

"I'm okay. Daddy tell you he talked to me?"

"He did. How much of a chance are you going to give Squall? If he tried to hit you, Rinoa, that's serious. That's not something you can just say 'oh well' to. Don't endanger your life or Julie's."

"I wont, mom. This is his last chance. I promise. If he doesn't get his act together then… I …" Tears glazed her eyes over. Julia pulled her daughter into a comforting hug.

"Oh honey. I know it's hard to think about and how much you love him but you have to protect yourselves first. I'm not saying you should completely abandon him. Maybe he'll try to get better. But if he doesn't, at the very least you two should separate for a while."

"I know." Rinoa pulled gently out of the embrace and pulled her knees against her chest. "It's upsetting to think about. When the time comes, I'll do the right thing. For now, if Squall comes by, he shouldn't see any of us. So don't let him in."

After a few days had passed Julie returned to school; Rinoa returned to work. Julie filled Ellone in on everything that had happened. "I was so scared," she admitted. "I really don't remember getting my mom out of there but she says I did. Maybe I shouldn't miss him and I should be mad. I am mad. How could he do that to mom…? I heard her say she misses him. Well so do I."

Ellone's head bobbed up and down in a nod as she said, "I know what you mean. I miss my dad too. So does mom. But your dad is still alive. Things can still change."

"What if it doesn't though?" Her friend only shrugged. In a way they knew the answer already. It would mean Squall would have to move out. Or Rinoa would take Julie somewhere else. Then they wouldn't see their friends anymore. Julie would be the new kid in a strange school. Making friends wasn't an easy task for her either. She'd feel worse if things ended up the way they did with Ellone's father. "Are you going to move back to your old house?"

"No. Mom wants us to stay in the apartment. She said she'd always be sad and have nightmares living there. Nightmares about how they found him, what he looked like."

"Do you want to go back?"

"I don't know… Thinking about it my mom's way, no. Knowing it's our house, yes. I can't make up my mind."

"That'd be hard for me to choose too."

In the dish room where Rinoa worked, she was concentrating on cleaning dishes next to a coworker. She scrubbed each plate hard and roughly put it back. "Rinoa," Selphie called from the front. "Can you come here for a second?" It only took a moment for Selphie to be joined by her friend. "How are you holding up? Everything going okay?"

She said, "Things have been easy so far. Once he tries to see us though, it'll get harder. If he comes to see me… I don't know what I'll do."

"You think you'll take him back?"

Her shoulders moved up then back down in a shrug. "I'm afraid I might. I miss him so much."

"I'm sure you do. But if you love him, then this is something you need to hold out on. He has to quit drinking."

"I know." A few moments of silence filled the air.

"Well, do you want to help me out here for a while?"

"Sure." An elderly couple walked through the door and sat down at a table. Rinoa handed menus to them as she told them what the special was in a cheerful voice that she didn't exactly feel. "Can I get you something to drink right away?" The pencil in her hand created their responses on the tablet in her left hand. "I'll be back in a moment to take your order." After fetching their drinks, she went around to a new group that had just arrived, spouting the same message. Then she walked back over to the elderly couple to take their order. Both groups got their food and Rinoa sat down at one of the tables in the far corner for a break. Selphie took a seat next to her. "Heard anything from Quistis or Zell? I'd like to see everyone again."

"I can get a hold of them," Selphie said. "Why don't we see what Squall decides to do? If he decides to quit drinking, I'll get everyone together for a celebration. If you end up divorcing him, I'll wait 'til all the shit is over and then it'll be a cheerer upper. How does that sound?"

Rinoa nodded as she said, "Fine. Can you get a hold of Fujin too? I want to know how she's doing too."

"Everyone I can get a hold of. Don't worry. Okay? Just take care of yourself and Julie."

At 2:50 pm, Julie stood outside the double doors of the elementary school. She was waiting for Rinoa to come pick her up like she said she would. A few minutes later, she still hadn't come. Instead, a familiar car pulled up next to the sidewalk. The darkened window rolled down to reveal Squall's face. "Hey Julie. You waiting for your mom?" he asked. She nodded, providing no verbal response. "Why don't you hop in and I'll give you a ride?" His daughter didn't move from where she was standing. The bones in his wrist flicked in the right direction to turn the ignition off. He got out of the car and went up to her. "I miss you guys you know," he said as he kneeled down next to her.

"I miss you too daddy," she said as she hugged him. He picked her up and took her to his car.

Rinoa drove all over looking for Julie. She was completely hysterical at the Heartilly house when she still couldn't find her daughter come four o' clock. Just as she was about to call the police, the doorbell rang. "Rinoa," her mom called. "It's for you!" On the front steps stood Squall with Julie cradled in his arms. He put her on the ground. Julia ushered the child inside and shut the door. Though caught off guard, Squall was not surprised when Rinoa hit him.

She hissed through clenched teeth, "How dare you sneak off with her!"

"I didn't sneak off," he argued. "If I did, she wouldn't be here now. And neither would I for that matter."

"It doesn't matter! You have no right to take my daughter-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. _You're_ daughter? If I remember correctly it takes two people to make a child. She's my daughter too and I love her just as much as you do. So don't start that bullshit. I miss you, both of you." He ran his fingers through a small portion of her hair. She pulled away from him.

"Well, if you miss us that badly then you know what to do to get us back." Quickly she disappeared in the house with the door slamming shut behind her.

That night as Rinoa cried in her room, Squall sat at home with his head in his hands on the couch. He really missed Rinoa and Julie. Without them he felt empty. He felt drained of everything: life, strength, emotion. As much as he wanted to he couldn't cry and he certainly couldn't bring himself to drink. It was so hard to break an addictive habit. No one seemed to understand that. Of course he appreciated that they all cared about him but the lecturing needed to stop. It was the lecturing that bothered him.

Squall couldn't blame Rinoa for leaving. She was only protecting herself and Julie. After they'd left that night, he sat alone in the kitchen, feeling completely disgusted with himself. Apologizing really wouldn't do a whole lot of he also knew he owed Rinoa more than just an apology. For Julie and Rinoa, he'd have to try to quit drinking. Easier said than done.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Once a week after that, Squall would try to contact Rinoa. Usually he showed up at the Heartilly house where Julia would ward him off. Sometimes though his own daughter would come out and have a talk with him. She'd tell him about school, Ellone, Rinoa, how much they both missed him and her fear of their divorce. "You have to get better," Julie said. "I don't want you to get a divorce. I know mommy still loves you. She always cries at night when she thinks I'm asleep. I had a bad dream once that you left and I never saw you again. Mommy was sad in the dream too. I woke up crying from that dream." Squall hugged her, he couldn't resist. She looked so sad.

"I'm trying. I'm really trying," he told her. "But it's going to take sometime." Then he unexpectedly showed up at Rinoa's work. While she hid in the backroom, Selphie kept repeating to Squall that Rinoa didn't want to see him. Still he stayed insisting she be brought out to see him. Finally he just pushed past her to where Rinoa hid. She looked up in surprise. Squall swore he saw a sense of happiness in her eyes. "Rinoa, hear me out," he pleaded. She gave a slight nod, more toward Selphie than Squall. Her friend took the hint and exited so they could be alone. "I just want to tell you that I'm working on it." Silence followed for a brief moment. Her pale pink lips parted to release the words circling inside her head. Squall interrupted her before a sound could come out of her mouth, "I know you think I'm just trying to beg you to come back but I'm not."

"Well, that's good. I wont come back until you quit drinking. Completely," she said.

"I know. I just wanted to tell you so you know that I love you and miss you." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. It was soft and comforting, something Rinoa had missed. She returned his gentleness with a kiss on the lips.

"I miss you too. But I mean what I said. We can't come back until you've beaten this thing." As if on cue, Selphie opened the door. Squall knew he needed to leave. The two watched him go. Once he disappeared, they resumed working.

Over the weekend, Julie begged her mother to allow her to spend the night at Ellone's. "_Please_, her mom said it was okay," Julie told her. Rinoa thought it over a minute before saying, "sure." She decided to pay a little visit to Raine. She wanted to fill her in on what was going on. Better to hear it first hand rather than through someone else. After Julie threw her clothes in an old plastic grocery bag, Rinoa took her to Raine's house. They were given a warm welcome at the door and invited inside. Julie giggled as she raced Ellone to her room. Raine recited the typical lines that come after every greeting involving someone coming in ("Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"). Rinoa politely refused the second offer.

"You've got more furniture," Rinoa commented.

"Yeah," Raine called from the small kitchen. "We finally got the money for it. Good thing I got a job, otherwise I'd probably be broke." She returned to the living room with a cup of black coffee in her hand. Coffee was something Rinoa herself never cared for, coffee and alcohol. "Are you sure you don't want something?"

"No, I'm fine. But thank you."

"I heard there's been some problems lately. What happened- if you don't mind telling me of course."

"I planned on telling you actually." From there she laid it all out in the open. As she did, she tried not to get too emotional. Raine listened intently and sipped at her coffee mug every couple of minutes. With her free hand she held her chin up. Her legs gave her arm the support it needed to be upright. Rinoa twisted a Kleenex around in her hands while the words spilled from her mouth. Even after it had broken in two she still kept fidgeting with it. Then the story ended leaving her feeling drained and exposed. Raine resumed an upright position with her back firmly against the chair. Her fingers stroked the logo on the cup out of habit as she quickly thought all this over in her mind. Finally she put the mug down on the wooden coffee table in front of her, making a low_ clunk_.

"Sounds like Laguna all over again."

"I know."

"So you left? Good. That's probably for the best. Anytime you want, you can bring Julie over here. I can keep her away from him if you ever find yourself in trouble. Remember that." Rinoa nodded. She looked down at the worn tissue in her hands. "Would you like me to throw that away for you? I have to go in the kitchen anyway." She handed over the pieces and stared down at her hands until Raine returned with a full cup. "Rinoa, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to Squall about all this. I wont say anything to get you in trouble, but…" For a moment she was silent as if scared to put what was hidden in her mind into words. Once she sat down, she continued, "Well… I've been thinking about this since Laguna died. I don't want Squall to die because of alcohol. I want him to live happily with his wife an daughter until his body naturally gives out." A smile tugged at the corner of her lips in an effort to comfort them both. It disappeared before she said more. "You know I miss my husband. I still have nightmares about how it happened, how they found him… and sometimes I think it may have been _my_ fault. That I caused it somehow."

"No, no," Rinoa said. "You shouldn't think that."

"It sounds irrational, doesn't it? But when you think about it… If I had been there, I could have stopped him from doing something stupid and getting himself killed. I could have saved him if I had been there."

"He could've killed you though- he could've killed Ellone. Don't you think you'd have felt much worse if he'd killed Ellone? Or if he'd killed you then she would be all alone with him. You should be sad that he died but don't blame yourself. You didn't do anything wrong." Tears welled up in Raine's eyes. She took Rinoa's hands in her own.

"You understand what I'm feeling. I know you do. I did and still do. But since Laguna's death those feelings have intensified. Everyday I blame myself. '_If I had stayed… if I had stopped him… if I had been a better person…_' I want so badly to discuss all this with Squall because I wish I could scare him out of this habit. I don't want to lose my son and I don't want you and your daughter to live with the same feelings of guilt we have. So… if it's all right with you, I'd like to try to talk to him. And I'm asking you simply because I want to assure you that I'm with you on this. I'm not going to support him in this habit."

"I know. Thank you, Raine. I appreciate it." Before leaving Rinoa hugged her daughter and told her she'd be back to get her the next day. From there she went to Selphie's house.

At work, Squall knew he was in for a long day. With no family left to come home to he found that time had decided to run slower just to torment him. Around the afternoon Caraway called him into his office. "Shut the door and have a seat," Caraway instructed. The office had bookshelves lining the walls to the right and left of the door. His desk was centered in the middle on the green carpet. The window behind Caraway had the shades pulled down over it. A picture of his wife and teenaged Rinoa rested next to a smaller picture of Julie. Caraway motioned to the chair opposite him. "Have a seat. I just need a moment to finish signing these forms." While he finished up his task, Squall's heart raced in his chest. Sitting didn't provide any comfort. What was going to happen to him? Finally Caraway placed the pen in its holder on the edge of the desk. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No thank you, sir," Squall politely declined.

"Are you sure? It might help you relax."

"I'll be fine." Rinoa's father poured himself a glass of water and stood by the window, inspecting the shades.

"I suppose you're sitting there pondering what I could have called you in here for. Or maybe you already know."

'_She's told her father_,' Squall thought, '_and now I'm never going to get the chance to fix it_'. "I do have some idea, sir. But I'm not sure what you have to say to me."

Caraway set the clear glass on the desk as he said, "Well, first thing, let's drop the formalities. This isn't a business-related issue. Second, my daughter doesn't really want me to get involved so I wont- however… I feel I have the right to put in my own thoughts." He sat down in his chair and folded his hands on the desk. "You're not going to lose your job. You may have broken my daughter's heart but I can't rightfully fire you for that. I'm not the type of man who lets his emotions get in the way of reasoning. Of course, if you physically hurt my daughter, I have good reason to do all that's in my power to see you suffer the consequences. Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir, you are." Then before he could be given a reminder about formalities, Squall said, "Sorry."

"If it calls for it, I'm willing to pay for a divorce. And if that's what my daughter decides to do, I'm hoping you wont make it difficult for her." Squall slightly shook his head. Caraway sipped some water then put the cup down to continue. "Now, you're dismissed. You can go back to work. But remember what I said. If you ever _physically_ hurt my daughter…"

"I understand." Squall greeted excitedly. "I have some good news to tell you." She kicked the door shut behind Rinoa and had her sit down on the couch. "Look." Fingers spread, Selphie showed the diamond on her ring finger. "Irvine proposed to me."

"Really? That's wonderful, Selphie!" Rinoa said before hugging her friend. "I'm so happy for you. So do you have a date yet?"

"No. We just started making plans. My mom is going to help us. Oh I can't wait!"

"Yes very exciting…" The enthusiasm in Rinoa's voice had suddenly become false. She was thinking of Squall and feeling sad.

"Oh Rinoa, I'm sorry."

"No, no. You don't have a reason to be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. I should be apologizing for bringing you down on a happy occasion. I just… had a thought about…" Before she could say the name, Selphie placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. How long would it take Squall to get his act together? Would Rinoa be able to survive a divorce if it came to that? After a moment of silence, Rinoa suggested they go visit Edea. "I just wanted to see if she could give me any advice…"

"That's fine. Let's get going then." They got in Rinoa's car and traveled the short distances to Edea's house. She was happy to see them.

"Come in, come in. What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I wanted to know if you could help me figure something out," Rinoa said. The guests were invited to sit in her beautiful dining room. "Well, I assume you know about Squall's drinking problem and I wondered if you knew any way to help him."

"That depends on what kind of method you want to use. Getting into some kind of inpatient therapy for alcoholics may be a good idea. But I have a feeling that's not what you're asking for."

"How about a spell?" Selphie asked. "Can you do a spell to make him quit drinking?"

"As far as I know, no. But I could be wrong. It might be better if he worked on this problem though. For all we know a spell like that could just replace one bad habit with another."

"I suppose…" Selphie asked Edea if she could have a Tarot reading done. During that time, Rinoa spaced out. Her mind kept replaying all the good times she'd had with squall (some of which made her blush, though the others were too busy to notice). These thoughts made her want to go crawling back to him. She was weak. She knew that. Whenever she saw him she wanted to hug him and tell him how much she loved him.

"This card," Edea was saying, "represents your possible future. It says you'll have great emotional satisfaction, which means you'll be very happy in your future." In one swift motion she had all the cards back in one deck.

"I didn't tell you the great news, Edea. I'm getting married," Selphie said with a smile.

"Oh, to whom? That boy with the ponytail? I'm sorry. I can't remember his name."

"That's okay. You've only met him a couple of times so I don't expect you to remember. Yes that's him though. His name is Irvine. I'm so happy… I don't even know how to describe it!"

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm guessing, Rinoa, things aren't going so well for you, are they?" Rinoa only shrugged. "You didn't tell me what exactly has happened to you. I'm guessing you don't want to talk about so I wont push you." She leaned forward, gently placing her hand over Rinoa's. "I can't help you with a spell- as far as I know, I can't. The best thing you can do is help him work through it."

It was after seven when Squall arrived home. He didn't have to work as late as he'd thought. The light on the answering machine was blinking. A red line in the number window indicated there was one message. As he pressed the button to play it his heart filled with hope the message would be from Rinoa. Instead, Raine's voice came out saying, "Hi Squall, it's your mother. I'm sure you're at work. If you don't get work done too late, I was hoping you could drop by. Otherwise if you could tomorrow, I'd appreciate it. Talk to you soon, bye." Feeling too tired to give a ring back Squall went up to bed. He was tired enough to ignore his growling stomach. '_In the morning,'_ he told himself, '_In the morning I'll go see her._' Physically he was exhausted but his wind kept him awake with questions. How long would it take to rid him of this habit? Would Rinoa ever come back to him or would they end up getting a divorce? Both were questions he had no clues as to what the answers were. The empty space next to him didn't make him feel any better.

Five hours after falling asleep, Squall woke up at the sound of the alarm clock. The numbers read 6:40. He got up and went through his morning routine of getting ready for the day. He ate breakfast then flipped though all the channels on TV. Nothing caught his interest. Maybe he just didn't feel like watching TV. Eventually he settled on a channel for the local news and blankly kept his eyes on it until noon. By then Rinoa had taken both Julie and Ellone home with her. Raine had asked Rinoa to take Ellone so she could speak with Squall alone. He arrived a little after twelve. "How are you doing this morning?" she asked as she hugged him. He didn't give an answer. "Well, come up. Let's talk."

In her living room, they had a seat. Squall leaned forward with his arms crossed and his elbows leaning on his knees. His eyes were focused on the floor. "Obviously you're not well," Raine said. "You miss Rinoa and Julie?"

"Of course," he said without hesitation.

"You can beat this. It just takes time. I hope you're doing all the right things." No response. She set her own cup down on the table. "I'm not trying to lecture you. I want to help you. I want you to be able to live until you die naturally- not because of alcohol like your father."

"I'm not going to die. How many times-"

"You don't know that! Do you think people who get in accidents know what's going to happen? Most people don't think tragedies like that would ever happen to them. You hear survivors say it all the time: 'I never thought it'd happen to me'. _You _need to start thinking that it could happen to you."

"How is that going to change anything?"

"It might get you scared, help you quit. You have to think- No; you have to _know_ you're capable of killing yourself, Rinoa, and Julie. When you're drunk, you're capable of _anything_ you wouldn't normally do."

"Tell me how this isn't lecturing…"

"Oh will you forget about that! That's not the issue here! I want you to quit drinking. Do you hear me? I don't want you to die the way your father did! It's devastating to your family and unfair to you. Devastating to your family because they have to carry the guilt with them for the rest of their lives. It's unfair to you because you're cheated out of your life by an addiction- by you. You can take care of this but you have to take responsibility."

"I am."

"No you're not. Not the right way at least. Otherwise you'd do more to quit."

"I think I should go," he said. He stood to go but Raine grabbed his arm before he could reach the door.

"Squall, I want you to think about what I said," she told him. She still had a hold of his arm and since it was obvious he was eager to leave, she loosened her grip. Squall walked back to his car. For a while he just sat in his car thinking, thinking about Rinoa. The urge to see her was overwhelming. To cure that feeling he drove to where Rinoa was living. '_Go knock on the door and ask for her. Go knock on the door and ask for her. Go knock on the door and ask for her_,' he kept saying to himself but his body wouldn't move. '_She doesn't want to see you, idiot. You know that._' From the window of the second floor, Julie looked down at the familiar car.

"That's your dad, huh?" Ellone asked.

Julie said, "Yeah. I wonder what he's doing here…"

A floor below the two young girls, Rinoa was called to the window. "Rinoa, isn't that Squall sitting out there?" her mother said.

"Yeah," she whispered. She'd been helping her mother with dishes while the girls played upstairs. Without hinting what she was thinking, Rinoa put the towel in her hand down before going outside. It didn't register right away in Squall's head who was walking toward his car. He lowered the passenger window. Rinoa leaned against the car with her head partially in the car. "Squall, what are you doing here?" The shaky tone in her voice made him feel worse.

"I-" His grip on the steering wheel tightened. "I wanted to see you," he said quietly. The passenger door opened causing a noise to alert the driver. Rinoa sat down next to him and silenced the noise by shutting the door. For a moment they just looked at each other. Neither of them spoke or made a sound. Squall didn't know what she was thinking but she looked sad. "Rinoa, I-" She threw her arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. He could feel her begin to cry. "Rinoa. I'm sorry." While she quietly cried, he stroked her hair. A few minutes passed before she was calm again.

She sat back and as she wiped at her eyes, she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I just-"

"No, no. It's okay. I should be apologizing, Rinoa. Not you. I'm the one who made you feel bad."

"You don't know how much I miss you."

"It's lonely at home without you and Julie. How is Julie doing now, by the way? Is she okay?

"She misses her father. You know… I've been thinking about coming back home. You seem to be doing better."

"I haven't had a drink in a couple weeks." What he didn't tell her was that he hadn't felt much since she left. Since he hadn't felt anything, he didn't need the alcohol to dismiss bad feelings.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear that."

"Rinoa, could- … could we spend the day together? I know that's a lot to ask but I want to be with you…"

"Okay. I'll go with you," she said. "But I can't spend the night with you. Just the day."

"I know, I know. I only want to spend a little time with you."

"Well, let's go then."

"Do you need to tell your mom where you're going?"

"No. It'll be fine. Just go."

Upstairs, Julie and Ellone were trying to figure out what was going on. When the car drove away the two girls became confused. "Hey," Ellone said, "where are they going?"

"I don't know," Julie said even though the question wasn't really directed at her. "I hope mom's okay. I wish we could follow them."

"How would we do that? I'm not old enough to drive yet and I don't even have my license. Plus we don't know where they're going."

"I just wish we could. I wonder what's going on though."

"Maybe your grandma knows. Should we ask her?"

"Okay. Worth a try." They went downstairs into the kitchen where Julia was cleaning the last plate in the sink. "Do you know where my mom went?"

"Well," Julia said as she put the plate down, "I thought she went outside to-" She looked out the window and saw the car was gone. "Oh. I don't know where she went. I'm sure she'll be back soon though. You girls go play. Everything will be fine." The two ran back upstairs to Rinoa's room.

A little after eight that night, when the stars were starting to come out, Squall dropped Rinoa off at her parents' house. They kissed before saying goodbye. Then she disappeared out of his sight into the house. He drove back home. Raine had already picked up Ellone three hours ago. Julie was watching TV with Julia. They both heard her come in but decided not to overwhelm her with questions. She went upstairs to take a shower and then lay in bed. She'd had a good time with Squall. First, they went out to eat. He'd made sure to take her to a place where they wouldn't be bothered by anyone they knew. Up to the time they got their food, they'd talked uncomfortably as if they were just getting to know each other for the first time. Then Rinoa became giggly and they began to laugh and joke around like old times. At home (their home), the two goofed off; playfully teased each other until Rinoa decided she'd better get back to her parents' house. She savored these memories in her sleep.

In late October, Rinoa started her day off by bringing Julie to school, after which she came to work. "Rinoa, hey," Selphie greeted. "I have something for you." She took out a card from her bag and handed it to her friend. The front looked as though it was lightly sponge-painted a sky blue color. In the center of the card in midnight blue cursive the words 'You're invited' were written. "We finally worked out a date and I want you and Quistis to be my bride's maids. We can go pick out dresses together when everyone has free time… So what do you say?"

"What do you mean, what do I say?" Rinoa asked. "Of course I'll be one of your bride's maids." She hugged Selphie and smiled. That same day Squall, Zell, Quistis, Fujin, and Rajin many others received Selphie's wedding invitation in the mail.


	21. Chapter Twenty

This is NOT the last chapter. The last chapter will be put up soon.

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Selphie went through a wedding catalog with Rinoa whenever they had a little break at work. Soon Rinoa became sick of all the dresses but she kept her enthusiasm for her friend. Finally the magazine was put off to the side. "So, do you have any idea how Squall is doing?" Selphie asked.

"Um… I haven't seen him in a while," Rinoa lied. She'd been seeing him once a week every week since he took her out. She missed him so much she couldn't help it.

"Oh you're such a bad liar. He's still trying to quit, right?"

"Yeah. Of course." They hadn't really discussed it. She only answered he was still trying. They had talked about living together again though, something she did _not_ want to tell Selphie. In fact, she hadn't even told her mother.

"Good. I'm sure he'll be better in no time. All he has to do is keep working at it. Anyway, sometime after the wedding, Irvine and I are going to use the money we've been saving up to start a little family."

"I thought you were going to go to college? Change your mind?"

"Yeah. We both have steady jobs so…"

"Well, as long as you're prepared…"

"We are, don't worry."

"If you need anything, just ask."

"Thanks."

At her parents' house, Rinoa decided to call Squall. He wasn't home and she didn't feel like leaving a message. Julie was gone. Raine had decided to take Ellone and Julie to the park. Caraway was at work and Julia was resting in her room. The house was pretty much empty. Rinoa didn't have anything to do. For a while she lay in bed, thinking. Selphie was going to get married soon. Her and Irvine dated for years. Rinoa knew they'd have a happy life together. But thinking about their relationship made her think about her own with Squall. She wished they hadn't rushed into things but that was the fault of both of them not one or the other. Maybe if she hadn't gotten pregnant, maybe it would've ended up differently. Of course she always had these thoughts when she was alone.

Around five o'clock, the phone rang. Rinoa grabbed it in an instant. "Hello," she answered.

"Hello. Rinoa?" It was Squall's voice.

"Squall. I tried to call you but you were at work."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. So what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"He laughed, "Really? Just talk or something else?"

"Oh shut up." She giggled. "That's what _you _had on _your_ mind. Well… how was your day? Have fun at work?"

"Tons. We have parties all the time and get to do whatever we want."

"Your sarcasm is amusing." The laughter in her voice made his boring day a whole lot better. "Same-old thing then, huh? Did you get the invitation to Selphie's wedding?"

"Yeah. I also noticed she sent them a few months in advance."

"Well they're putting the finishing touches on everything. I suppose they sent them out ahead of time incase something went wrong. Are you going to go?"

"If that's okay."

"Well I didn't mean it like that… Maybe Julie can sit by you."

"Nope," he said. "She'll have to sit with your mother or mine. Irvine asked Zell and I to be his best men."

"Right… I suppose I should've guessed that. I feel like an idiot."

"Why? You're beating yourself up over nothing. You're not an idiot. Anyway, she can probably sit with Ellone." They were quiet for a moment. Rinoa wished she were in Squall's arms now. "I wish you were here," he whispered as if reading her mind.

"Me too. But I have to wait for Julie to get home. Your mom took her and Ellone to the park."

"You think I can come visit Julie tomorrow? Maybe we could all do something, go on a little trip."

"Yeah, sure. I don't have to work tomorrow 'cause it'll be closed. When Julie gets home I'll ask her if she'd like that, though I'm sure she would. Give you a ring back later, okay?"

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye." She hung up the phone and went downstairs. Julia was starting dinner. "Let me help you," Rinoa volunteered. While they prepared the meal, Raine decided to take Julie home. She arrived just as the finishing touches were being applied. "Did you have fun today sweet heart?" Since she had food in her mouth, Julie could only nod. "So, what did you guys do?"

"Well," Julie said between chews, "we went to the park for a while. Then Ellone's mom took us out to eat for lunch. And then we played at their house until she brought me home. What did you do?"

"Worked. Uh, I have to talk to you after dinner. So don't take off."

"I wont but… am I in trouble?"

"No, you're not in trouble." Caraway had not joined them for dinner once again because he was too busy. When they were finished, the three cleaned up and washed the dishes. Julia picked a book off the shelf to read. Rinoa took Julie to their room. Rinoa said, "Your father called today. He wanted to know if we could do something with him tomorrow. I don't have to work so it's up to you."

"Um I don't know. Is he going to hurt you again?"

"We'd just spend the day with him, honey. We're not moving back in."

"You say that _now_," she mumbled under her breath. "Okay. I guess."

"Do _you_ want to call him or should I?"

"You can. I'm going to my room." The door shut with a quiet slam. Rinoa sighed. She knew she should be more careful around Squall but she missed him so much. Julie hadn't sounded thrilled to see him. Maybe if they all spent a little time together, things would get even better. Squall answered on the first ring.

In the morning, Julie and Rinoa dressed up nicely without making it too extreme. After all, they didn't want to look too fancy (like they were going to some royal person's birthday), just nice. They met him at their house. Julie was quiet and being a tad stubborn. "Can't we give it a try?" Rinoa asked as she looked at her daughter through the rearview mirror. "Please?" Her daughter gave no response. Instead she turned her head toward the window. Squall waved as they pulled up. "Do you want me to drive? All you have to do is tell me where to go." He got in the passenger seat. "Where are we going?"

"Well," he said. "What would you guys like to do?"

"Julie, what do you want to do? We could go to the park."

She sighed, "I did that yesterday."

"How about a movie?"

"Nothing I want to see."

"Oh honey, please don't be difficult…" She quickly tried to come up with another suggestion. There wasn't a whole lot in their small town to do. In fact there was a little theater here but a couple years ago, it was changed into a country-western theater. No big names ever appeared on the sign though. It mainly seemed to be people who were getting started. The people that attended these concerts didn't seem to mind though. Rinoa decided they'd have to go out of town. "Well, Julie, how about shopping then? Afterwards we can go eat wherever you'd like. So what do you say?"

"Fine." Rinoa could feel Squall's hurt by their daughter's nonexistent enthusiasm even though he tried to hide it with a confident grin. During the drive he tried to ask Julie questions. Sometimes she answered, sometimes she didn't. The whole conversation made Squall feel like a boyfriend just meeting his girlfriend's daughter for the first time. Finally he quit and turned around. Silence filled the car as Rinoa fought back tears. Squall saw them but didn't think she'd want to be questioned about it in front of Julie. Since it was Sunday the parking lot at the mall wasn't completely packed with cars. But it was still difficult to find a good space. She had to settle for a spot at the end of one of the rows. Everyone piled out of the car and headed inside.

"Where would you like to go first?" Rinoa asked. They'd decided to go to the mall so they could go everywhere without having to drive all over the place. "Wait. I need to stop at the bathroom real quick. Is that okay?"

Squall said, "No problem. We'll wait out here for you." When she disappeared behind the door he turned to Julie. "I know you're mad at me but do toy hate me?"

"No," Julie said.

"You didn't have to come if you didn't want to."

"It's not that, daddy. I just… feel like I'm having a bad day." He nodded, believing the lie she'd just fed him. She didn't do it to hurt him. It was the exact opposite. After all, how could she say, 'Oh daddy I don't trust you yet'? She looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back. This was the moment Rinoa came out. Seeing them like that made her feel better. All three of them got to browse the stores of their choice (without separating from one another). Squall paid for the few things Julie picked up. Rinoa bought a couple of books to enter herself when she became bored. For lunch, Julie said they should go to the food court so everyone could get what they wanted. She dragged Squall over to the pizza stand.

"I'll find us a table," Rinoa called to them. Finding an empty table was difficult. A couple dirty ones were open. "Should've come sooner." She grabbed a handful of napkins and wiped one clean. "Oh gross." The two joined her carrying two giant slices of pizza in their hands. "Honey, are you sure you can eat all that? It might make you sick."

Squall sat down next to her as he said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Not you." She hit him playfully.

"I know. I was only kidding. Anyway if she doesn't finish hers, I will."

"Okay. I'm going to find myself something. I'll be right back." A moment later she returned with a sandwich that appeared to be nothing more than bread.

"Are you on a diet or something? 'Cause you shouldn't be if you are."

"No I'm not on a diet. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're not eating much."

"Really I'm fine. There wasn't much over there I liked so I got a little sandwich."

"It has pepperoni in it."

"Okay, okay. I'm just checking."

Julie said, "What are we going to do after this?"

"What do you want to do?" Squall asked. She shrugged. "We could go by a couple more stores and head home. Then maybe we can rent a movie. It's up to you two, really. Think about it. We got time." In the end they decided to go along with the plan Squall had outlined as a possibility. By the time they got home, it was a little after four. Julie selected a couple of movies to rent. She tried to sneak a horror movie in there.

"I don't think so. You're only nine," Rinoa said. Her daughter tried to defend herself by pointing out the fact that she'd be turning ten soon. "Not until you're sixteen, maybe fifteen. But nine is too young. Put it back, we'll get these." At home, their home, the family of three watched the two movies that'd been rented. It was nearly eight when the movies were over. "Oh we should get home."

"Really? I was hoping you could stay a while."

"Oh Squall, I told you we can't stay the night."

"I know, I know. I was just hoping we could spend some time together…"

"Oh Squall, I can't tonight. Maybe another time." She hugged him. "I need to get Julie home. Goodnight, Squall." They kissed before she left me with their daughter.

The next weekend was saved for Selphie. She wanted Rinoa and Quistis to go with her to pick out bride's maids dresses. On the way, Selphie kept questioning Quistis on her relationship with Zell. "So," she asked, "how are things between you two? Are things getting serious?"

Quistis shrugged as she said, "We're doing all right. I don't know what you mean by _serious_. I'm guessing you mean marriage and if that is what you mean, I don't think things are getting _that_ serious. Plus, I'd like to finish college before I even think about getting married."

"But you could be in college for such a long time."

"Well, let's just say Zell is thinking of proposing to me. If he loves me then he should be able to wait."

"I understand that. I just don't get why you'd want to wait 'til after you finish college."

"Because after college I'll get myself a job and a place to settle down."

"Oh. I see your point." She waited a moment then changed the subject, "Rinoa, how's Squall doing?"

Rinoa said, "Better" although she wasn't exactly sure. The two still hadn't talked about it. The subject was always something she felt the need to avoid. But, being as he wanted them back together so badly, she assumed he was working on it. "Hopefully Julie and I can move back in with him."

"Good. Just don't rush things."

"I know. Don't worry." When they reached their destination, all three of them climbed out of the car. Selphie asked her two friends if they would mind wearing yellow bride's maids dresses. "Selphie, if that's the color you want then that's perfectly fine," Rinoa said.

"As long as it's not blind-everyone-in-the-room yellow," Quistis added with a smile.

Selphie laughed, "No of course not." Inside the bridal shop each one of the three friends picked a section and began looking through the dresses. Every couple of minutes someone would hold one up to say, "What about this?" Selphie would respond in ways such as "Too poofy; too classy; a bit too yellow; maybe we should try a different color". Finally a cream colored dress was presented to her. It had no sleeves, just clear straps. The top was sewn on in a way that made it look separate from the skirt. A matching shawl came with it. "It's beautiful. Who wants to model it?"

"Quistis does," Rinoa said.

Quistis responded, "Uh, okay." She asked one of the clerks to show her to the fitting rooms.

"It's not quite yellow though. Does that matter?"

"Not if it looks nice," Selphie said. "And if you two like it."

"Oh, well, Selphie _you_ have to like it too. It is _your_ wedding."

"I think it's beautiful. Let's see how it looks on you guys." After a few moments, Quistis came out wearing the dress. She looked very sophisticated without being over the top. She twirled around in it then stopped. "It's absolutely perfect. What do you think, Quistis?"

"I like it," she said. "And as long as you like it, that's all that matters. But, I think I need a smaller size. This one's a tad too small."

"Okay. Let's have someone get you girls fitted."

At the wedding, when it finally came time, Julie sat with Rinoa's parents. Selphie received help from her friends getting dressed she had a hard time containing her excitement ("Oh this is so wonderful. It feels like a dream. Am I dreaming?"); and nervousness ("Are you sure this looks all right? Maybe if I fluff this up a bit more… How many people do you think are out there?"). The whole time her friends reassured her everything would be fine and that she looked gorgeous. Finally they took their places. Rinoa tried not to look at anyone she knew in fear of bursting into a fit of laughter. Nervousness sometimes transformed that way. Squall, who stood across from her, kept thinking how beautiful Rinoa looked. He wanted her back so much. Lately he'd begun to feel lonely, which prompted him to have a drink- a few drinks. He didn't talk to Rinoa about this; she had no idea.

Music started, signaling Selphie to start her walk down the aisle. One of her uncles accompanied her in place of her father. During the ceremony Rinoa and Squall kept glancing at one another. Carol watched with happiness in her heart for her daughter. Fujin sat in-between Rajin and Seifer (whom Selphie gave the okay to invite) wondering what everyone was feeling. She couldn't picture herself in Selphie's shoes (not marrying Irvine in this hypothetical situation of course) or wearing a wedding dress at all. Then again she had a hard time picturing herself in any situation without trying it out first. A few rows ahead Edea tried to conceal her tears. '_She's not the girl's mother so why is she crying?_' she figured everyone was thinking. Still, a wedding was one of those occasions where you felt happy and sad at the same time.

When it came time for the reception, Selphie gathered all her friends around so they could catch up with one another. Seifer was allowed to join in on the conversation as well. Family members came by to say a few nice words to Selphie and Irvine occasionally. Not far from them all the kids played tag together. The group of friends raised their glasses in a toast to the new married couple and the reuniting of Rinoa and Squall. If only their daughter was as thrilled as everyone else was about the news.

For about two weeks, everything went great. Julie didn't hold her breath. Then it all began again. Squall and Rinoa fell back into the same old habits. Every time they got in a fight Squall would get what Julie called 'sympathy points'. This process would begin after a fight. While Rinoa cried in bed Squall would tell her how sorry he was and how he didn't deserve her. She obviously always forgave him. Otherwise she would've left Julie, right? Soon a couple of bruises appeared on Rinoa's arm.

"Mom, what happened to your arm?" Julie decided to ask one day even though she already knew what had happened.

Rinoa said, "Just a little accident."

'_She can't even come up with a good lie_'. "Mom, why are you letting him do this? I love dad too but… that's not my dad. My dad wouldn't do anything to hurt either of us. He's not my dad. You shouldn't let him do that."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Make him stop. Tell him to get help, mom."

'_She's only nine and she sounds like she's my age. What have I done to her_?' "Don't worry. Everything will be fine, I promise." However things did not get better. It slowly got worse. Julie screamed at the top of her lungs for her daddy to stop. Did the neighbors hear? Most likely. But this was one of those towns where no one interfered with someone else's business, be it life-threatening or interesting. Gossip was practiced more than kindness. Every morning Squall was unable to remember what he did the night before. Then he saw the bruises and it all came flooding back. Julie now only ever looked at him with coldness in her eyes. None of these times was the worst.

All of them remembered the incident but not what triggered it. Julie remembered panicking upon hearing her mother scream. Squall's fists pounded on Rinoa's curled up body. She had her hands protecting her head as she cried and yelped. Blood came down from wounds inflicted by an unrecognizable man. Julie ran straight to Selphie's without stopping to put shoes on. It was the only place she knew the exact location of, even in the dark. Selphie wasn't home but Carol was. She called the police at Julie's request.

Rinoa remembered the pain she felt as Squall began to hit her. He hit her harder than he'd ever hit her before. She'd seen Julie watching. The fearful look on her face was stuck in Rinoa's mind forever. Her arms were over her head for protection. It didn't seem to help much. The first bone in her body that cracked made her yelp. Tears ran down her face as she kept her arms over her face. Soon she was huddled in a corner, hiding her face behind her knees. Her wrist burned and pulsated with a searing pain. She remembered feeling his fist against her head before blacking out.

Squall was the only one who remembered it as if it were some kind of nightmare he made up. If any thoughts had been going through his head at the time he didn't know what they might have been. When the police found him, he was kneeling by Rinoa's body. A pool of blood had begun to form underneath her. Despite not being able to see straight he was trying to figure out a way to help her. When the cops grabbed him, he resisted saying he needed to help Rinoa (though they could barely understand him). Paramedics tended to his injured wife.

At the hospital, Carol called Rinoa's parents. Julie sat in the waiting room trying to swallow her tears. "Julie, if you need to cry let yourself do it, honey," Carol said. She sat next to the child and gave her a gentle hug. "What's on your mind?" Julie just shrugged.

"When can we see my mom?" she asked.

"She's in the emergency room now. A nurse will come out and let us know. But… we may not be able to see her tonight. It all depends." Not long later Rinoa's family joined them. They sat for a long time. Julie was beginning to fall asleep when the nurse came in.

"You wont be able to see her tonight, I'm afraid. She's resting," the nurse announced. Julie went home with her grandparents. In the morning they would be back to visit. Selphie showed up with Carol and Irvine. Bruises were starting to form in various places on Rinoa's body. She had to have help sitting up.

She brushed Julie's hair from her face as she said, "Hi, sweetie. How are you doing?"

"Bad. When are you coming home?" Julie asked.

"I don't know. Hi Selphie, mom, everybody. Can someone call the nurse? I need to get up." Someone came to help her so she could go to the bathroom. Selphie went out into the hall. She couldn't stand to look at Rinoa, especially knowing who caused the injuries. In her heart she felt the same guilt everyone else was feeling.

Squall didn't bother fighting the charges against him. Everyone knew he was guilty, even he did. While he did his time, Rinoa recovered from her physical injuries and with her daughter began to piece their lives back together (part of this process required the now family of two to move). For a couple of years Rinoa had to be taken care of. She fell into a depression for which she had therapy. Julie also had to receive therapy for what she'd been through. She started feeling like the adult at home. She had to make sure Rinoa took her medication and took herself. Whenever Julie needed it, Selphie volunteered to help out. Rinoa's parents came by three times a week. Fujin and Quistis dropped by on the weekends. Raine brought Ellone over everyday. Ellone gave Julie a chance to play while Raine helped Rinoa figure out what to do next.

Squall had to go through all sorts of therapy programs. In a way, he was glad because it helped. He felt he was gradually getting better. But he was also in jail for beating Rinoa, the woman he loved so dearly. He could never forgive himself for that. A million apologies no matter how much he meant it would never makeup for what he'd done.


	22. Epilogue

When Squall was finally released from prison, he got himself an apartment near Raine as well as a new job. Julie's twentieth birthday was coming up in a month's time. He wanted to get something for her but more than likely she didn't want to see him. But he had to try. "You can come with us over there if it's okay with Rinoa," Raine said the week before. "Let me call her and ask."

"I got it," Julie yelled to her mother. She grabbed the phone off its stand. "Hello?"

"Hi, Julie. Is your mother there?"

"Yeah, hold on. Mom! Phone!"

Rinoa picked up a phone upstairs and said, "Okay, you can hang it up now." There was a moment of pause then a click indicating the other phone had been turned off. "Hello?"

"Hi Rinoa. How are you today?" Raine asked.

"I'm all right. You?"

"Good. I have a question for you… Squall would like to see Julie on her birthday. Is that a bad idea or not?"

"I'm not sure. Um… is he with you now?"

"No. I just talked to him a little bit ago. He's probably at home."

"Okay, well, maybe I'll go talk to him." She said goodbye to Raine then told Julie to get in the car. "I'm going to drop you off at Raine's for a while."

"Where are _you_ going?" Julie asked.

"I need to talk to someone."

"You're going to talk to dad, aren't you? Why? He might beat you up again."

"No he won't. I'll be fine. Don't worry." After parking in the visitor's lot, the two went in separate directions. Squall answered the door immediately. It seemed he was expecting her but the look on his face showed contradictory surprise. "Hello," Rinoa said. "Can I come in?"

Squall said, "Of course." She followed him down the hall to the apartment door behind the stairs. "Have a seat, please." He grabbed a chair from the kitchen for himself and had Rinoa sit on the couch. He didn't think she'd feel comfortable if he sat right next to her. "I assume Raine talked to you."

"Yeah. She called me a little bit ago. So you want to visit Julie on her birthday?" He nodded. "I think that'd be nice but it'd be hard on her. To tell the truth, I had a hard time coming here myself. But there's a difference. I could walk out that door and never look back again. If you came to see her, she wouldn't be able to do that. You would've entered the space she considered safe for a long time."

"So what can I do? I'd like to be involved in her life, if she lets me. I know I'd have to earn her trust again and let her take the time she needs to be comfortable with me."

"Maybe we can work something out. You had a present for her, right? I could give it to her for you. You could write a couple letters to her. Let's start with the present and I'll have a talk with her." Silence took the place of their talking for a few brief moments. Then Squall put his hand on Rinoa's.

"I'd like to see you again more often too."

"I don't know. I'd have to think about that. Maybe talk it over with Julie."

"Can I tell you something I think is important?" She gave him the go-ahead. "I know I can't take back everything I've done to hurt the two of you. I'm trying to fix my problem. I'm still in therapy so I wont pick up another drink again."

"Squall, I'd love so much to be with you. But I think I need to give this some thought. Let's take this one step at a time." After leaving his house, Rinoa went to join her daughter at Raine's place. She decided to talk to Julie at home, in private. And while Rinoa told her daughter everything, Julie sat in silence, contemplating and listening. She didn't know how to feel about the situation now brought up. It seemed her mother was giving into him but perhaps not. After all, he wasn't here now was he? And she was discussing it with her, which (despite the fact that Julie had only been a kid during their worst times) Rinoa had never done before. Finally it came Julie's turn to voice her opinion.

"I'm not sure what to do," she said when she found her voice. "I can't tell you what to do either. You should do what you feel is right. As for me… I need to think about it some more. I'll let you know."

She had a week to think this over. To help figure out a solution to this problem she asked Ellone for advice the next day. "Hm, well, I think you should do what you feel is the right thing to do," Ellone had said.

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not. I have both feelings about it. I don't know what to do. I can't forgive him for what he did to my mother."

"That's something hard to get over though. If he _has_ changed, that may give you the closure you need to heal. Maybe you could think of some way to give him a chance without putting yourself, or your mother, at risk. You might be able to talk with his therapist and get his or her opinion on how well your father's recovery is going."

"Yeah I could do that."

Selphie was not as optimistic about the whole idea. She kept prodding the horrible outcomes of Squall having contact with them once again. Rinoa loved her friend like a sister but she was tired of hearing the same speech over and over. Weren't there good possibilities too? He could be serious about recovering, right? She was so confused. For the whole week mother and daughter contemplated their options, asking for the advice of everyone they knew but each other.

The day before her birthday sleep didn't find Julie right away. She was too busy looking at the good and the bad to allowing her father to have some contact with her again. '_So what's the good?_' Lying in bed she propped her head up with her hand. '_It'd be nice to be a family again… I _have_ missed my dad. He may have actually changed_'. The bad came to her mind easily. '_He may not have changed. He could be lying about therapy. He could hurt my mom again._' The bad seemed to outweigh the good. Then again if she had some proof he was in all the therapy he'd said he was in, _then_ maybe she could picture giving him a chance. But it would take _a lot_ of time to even get close to the relationship they once had before all this began. Or maybe, what she'd only thought they had. By the time she came to her decision it was nearly three in the morning.

Rinoa was up before her daughter. She decided to make breakfast. While they ate they discussed their conclusions. Rinoa still remained undecided. "I don't think I can ever forgive him for what he did to you," Julie said. "But I'd like to give him the chance to prove he's changed and still working on it. If I see anything in him that makes me not trust him, I don't want to ever talk to him again."

"I think that's perfectly reasonable," Rinoa answered. She agreed to the same type of plan. A few hours after eating Rinoa traveled across town to the apartment complex. There she went over to Squall's home to retrieve the birthday present he had for his daughter.

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Thank you everyone who read this story and took the time to review. I hope the ending is suitable and enjoyable. I wanted it to be acceptable but not disappointing.


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